Isthmus Cover Stories
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Illustration by James Heimer for Madison Magazine
No Questions Asked
Top health officials agree that needle exchanges have proven an effective public health initiative by reducing the spread of dangerous blood-borne diseases among intravenous drug users. A special report in collaboration with Madison Magazine. Read more
Carolyn Fath Ashby
Thank you, Ben
Ben Koppa’s tragic death provided his ever-generous soul one final, grand opportunity to give. For 13 years, two of his organs — a kidney and pancreas — have been keeping John Groleau alive. Read more
Mar 27, 2020
Supreme decision
The state Supreme Court race presents Wisconsin with a dramatic choice, especially since Daniel Kelly, appointed to the bench in 2016 by Scott Walker, has a track record of expressing contempt for the idea of government assistance to people in need. Read more
Mar 25, 2020
David Michael Miller
Homeless in a pandemic
“With schools being closed it’s difficult for families who are working, especially being homeless,” says Melissa Sorensen, executive director of social services for the Salvation Army. “It’s really making it hard for folks to have a place to go." Read more
Mar 18, 2020
Anders Nienstaedt
Lather, rinse, reprogram
Hand hygiene’s role in disease prevention is both highly effective and generally underappreciated. Dr. Ajay Sethi and Dr. Nasia Safdar of UW-Madison testify to its importance. Read more
Mar 18, 2020
Alexei Vella
The new normal
COVID-19 is in Dane County and changing life in dramatic ways for all. We look at impacts and proposed solutions. The situation is extremely fluid. Read more
Mar 18, 2020
Madison City Channel
Crisis mode
Prepare for the long haul. Madison and Dane County say extreme measures have been taken to limit the spread of the coronavirus. After the immediate crisis, local governments will reckon with the financial consequences. Read more
Mar 18, 2020
We the undercounted
Baltazar De Anda Santana did not fill out the U.S. census in 2010. Undocumented at the time, he was afraid to let the government know where he was. This year he’s helping educate others about the importance of the national survey. Read more
Mar 12, 2020
5:00 AM
WILL power
“The public interest legal movement on the left is quite robust and has been quite successful in using the courts to effectuate policy change,” says WILL president Rick Esenberg. “There was a need to change the intellectual conversation.” Read more
Mar 5, 2020
5:02 AM
James Heimer
The new town square
Libraries are “a place for people no matter their status, their wealth, their income. Where you can go to learn, to participate, to research. You can become part of something that is bigger than yourself.” Read more
Feb 27, 2020
5:02 AM
Chris Bacarella
Writing a new future
Odyssey Beyond Bars is the first face-to-face accredited course offered by the UW-Madison inside any state corrections facility since 1917. Read more
Feb 20, 2020
5:01 AM
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
Feb 13, 2020
5:01 AM
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
5:02 AM
Favorite reads
And then there were two
It wasn't even close. Dave Mahoney, a 26-year veteran of the Dane County Sheriff's Office, easily trounced Robbie Lowery in the Democratic primary for Dane County sheriff. Read more
A swing through divided Wisconsin
President Donald Trump will likely need battleground Wisconsin to win re-election. Are voters in key swing areas of the state still backing him? Staff writer Dylan Brogan hit the road to find out. Read more
A stitch in time
Larry Schmitt is one of the few experts in nalbinding in the country. It predates knitting and crochet and dates back to 6500 B.C. Read more
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
Vinyl Cave: A piece of 1970s Wisconsin musical history
Whatever the story is with these oddly-covered 1970s albums, they are all musically worthwhile. Read more
