News
Top articles in 2020
Our most popular stories of 2020 focused on pandemic politics, coverage of downtown protests, and one surprise from the before times. Read more
Dec 31, 2020
Farewell, 2020
From Doormat of the Year award to Dereliction of Duty Award, the time is here to recognize especially bad behavior in 2020. Read more
Dec 21, 2020
The legacy of Shirley Abrahamson
From the archive: Shirley Abrahamson, the longest-serving justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court and its first woman justice, will retire this July after 43 years on the bench. Read more
Dec 21, 2020
Wisconsin jurists who defied Trump get an earful
Justice Jill Karofsky received 35 critical phone messages, compared to just two that were positive. Read more
Dec 17, 2020
Wisconsin Justice Brian Hagedorn gets bashed, praised by public
“I think you should resign,” declared one man in a message on Hagedorn’s public phone. “You gave us a lot of lies. You said you were a Republican conservative. You’re not. You’re terrible...Resign. You're a piece of garbage." Read more
Dec 8, 2020
Behind closed doors
The next Madison police chief will lead a department that some in the community don’t trust. The Police and Fire Commission’s decision to hold candidate interviews in private is not helping. Read more
Dec 8, 2020
Grant a wish
Do you have something to give? From material goods to your time, you can grant some area nonprofit’s wish by perusing the 2020 Holiday Wish List from United Way of Dane County. Read more
Dec 4, 2020
2:00 PM
It's a wrap
“You learn as you go,” said Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell of the presidential recount. “Everyone learns, the tabulators, the observers, all of us.” Read more
Nov 30, 2020
10:30 AM
All we want for Isthmus…is you
It’s been a horrible year. If you are able, help ensure Madison doesn’t lose a local newspaper in 2021. Read more
Nov 24, 2020
1:02 PM
Wisconsin’s recount is on
The recount begins in Dane and Milwaukee counties today. It must conclude by Dec. 1. Read more
Nov 20, 2020
1:00 PM
Dane delivers
Voter turnout was massive and at record levels: 89.2 percent in Dane County and 84.7 percent in the city of Madison. Read more
Nov 4, 2020
12:27 PM
Trending
Give me a party
Opinion | Far from being embarrassed to be a left-center moderate, I’m proud as hell about it. And I’ll bet that there’s more than a dozen people in this town who feel the same way. Where do we sign up? Read more
Panel discussion
Madison arts administrator Karin Wolf fights to preserve the panels from the murals painted downtown this summer. The weather is as dangerous as vandals have been. Read more
Food heals
Madison Community Meal in Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is selling $5 dinners and pay-it-forward meals to bring the community together on Jan. 18. Pickup has been moved to the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County, 4619 Jenewein Road, Fitchburg. Read more
The shows and movies that got me through 2020
The best way to find solace during quarantine is in many of the TV shows and movies we stream from the comfort of our living rooms. Read more
Sorting through yesterday's wreckage at the U.S. Capitol
Opinion | I alternate between outrage at the rioters and the politicians and right-wing media types who egged them on, and heartsickness at what’s become of my country. Read more