The buzz
Re: “Make friends with a pollinator,” (6/28/2018): Thanks, Esty (Dinur), for bringing attention to this important issue! The city’s Food Policy Council, of which I am a member, put together some resources for folks who want to create pollinator-friendly landscapes in their yard or on their street terrace. See cityofmadison.com/mayor/priorities/food/terrace-and-yard-plantings for more information. Several years ago, the city convened a Pollinator Protection Task Force, which authored a report containing a series of recommendations for city departments, which folks can view at cityofmadison.com/mayor/priorities/food/madison-food-policy-council/pollinator-protection-task-force. The Food Policy Council currently has a work group focused on pollinator issues, which reports to us at every meeting. They are responsible for Madison becoming a “Bee City” and taking the national monarch pledge, and they are currently working on the city’s integrated pest management policy.
— Satya Rhodes-Conway, via isthmus.com
Plane talk
Re: “Windfall” (7/5/2018): As a Madison native (growing up under the flight path in the 1950s-1960s), I loved this diverse and vibrant city (including the very loud and frequent Air Force fighter jets). However when I returned in 2004, after 30 years out west, I grieved a major change in values and culture — questioning if comfort, convenience, indulgence and arrogance were outpacing courage, contribution, service and humility in our mission, vision and values. Two years earlier, the vindictive and arrogant American response to 9/11 caused me to question the mission, vision and values of the country I once cherished.
Do we, the people of Madison (on a sacred indigenous isthmus of peace and reconciliation) and Wisconsin, have the courage and commitment to reach higher, dig deeper and be more? To model and inspire a higher form of honor, a deeper level of courage and soul-serving way of BEING?
— Carl Landsness, via isthmus.com
“It’s more than just the closing of the base, it’s $100 million of economic impact,” says Zach Brandon, president of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce. That right there is the military industrial complex we were warned about by Eisenhower. It’s no longer about national defense, it’s about defense of $$$ by the Chamber of Commerce. That should tell you all you need to know. Close the base.
— Duane Buscher, via Facebook
Such a joke that people are complaining about this! These jets are going to be amazing for our area. They will definitely keep Wisconsin safe as well as the country.
— @kherman1992, via Instagram