UP: Bill Cronon. The UW history professor was to Ken Burns' PBS series The National Parks what Shelby Foote was for Burns' earlier series on the Civil War - authoritative, incisive, at times poetic. His contributions wowed the nation, but generated scarce notice in Madison. See Bill Lueders' 10/2 post.
DOWN: Smokers. In a purported cost-cutting measure, Gov. Jim Doyle slashes funding for anti-smoking programs from $15.3 million to $6.9 million. This despite a recent 75-cent state tax hike (to a total of $2.52) on each pack of cigarettes. Hmmm, maybe the state doesn't want this revenue stream to dry up.
