 City of Madison Newsletter |
 Make Music Madison This Week! Make Music Madison is a free, citywide day of music held annually on June 21st, the longest day of the year. Initiated in Madison in 2013, Madison’s festival is part of the larger Make Music Day, an international summer solstice music celebration occurring in 1,000+ cities across the globe. Each year, coffee shops, restaurants, retail shops, centers of worship, front porches, parks, and other locations across Madison fill with music for everyone to enjoy!  Summer Park Fun! Goodman Pool is the place to be this summer. See the website for recreation swim, lap swim, and tot swim hours, as well as special events! Splash parks are free to use and open daily 10am to 8pm through Monday, September 4. Movies in the park are now showing, see the list of movies near you. Beach Water Quality Our local beaches are part of the summer fun, but at times beach water quality can close outdoor beaches. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, Public Health tests water at City beaches. They test for E. coli bacteria and blue-green algae and their toxins to protect swimmers and other recreational water users. You can check beach water quality on the public health website. Mayor’s Message The City of Madison is taking a multifaceted approach to public safety and violence prevention in our community. Safety is a top priority for every City department, but Police, Fire, Public Health, and Traffic Engineering have been at the forefront of our work. We recently heard updates from leaders in these departments. They shared some important updates and progress: – Shots fired continue to trend downwards – they are down 14.5% compared to 2022, year-to-date. – Burglaries year-to-date are down 20% from the three-year average. – Violence Outreach and Intervention Specialists are now conducting outreach and providing case management and peer support services to those in our community who may be engaging in or affected by violence. – The Safer Bar program, a de-escalation and bystander intervention program for owners, managers, and staff, is now available for alcohol-serving establishments downtown. – 27 Safe Streets projects, covering 53 locations, have been approved in 2023 so far. – Fatality and serious injury crashes on Madison streets are down 29% from 2020 to 2022. – CARES teams have responded to over 2600 9-1-1 calls for service so far. – CARES services will expand to the weekends, and a third team will come into service in October. You can view the whole briefing here. I want to thank these agencies for their hard work, not only for taking evidence-based approaches to public safety but also for being great partners to each other and with the many community-based organizations they’ve brought into this work along the way. And thank you to those in the community who participate through public meetings committee work, and community groups, which help make Madison a safer place. Building a culture of safety is something all of us can be a part of. Be well,  Mayor Satya  Transit Network Redesign is Here! Metro has implemented its largest service change in more than 20 years – do you know how to navigate the new system? Plan new Metro trips by visiting mymetrobus.com or downloading Google Maps or the Transit app from your favorite app store. Brush Collection Season Are you ready for brush collection season? You can check here to receive the dates when you should set out brush for collection. reminder that Brush is woody material you have cut (or have fallen) from trees, shrubs, or bushes while “Yard waste” is the plant material you rake or pull from your lawn or garden and is a separate collection that will resume in the fall.  Calling All Native Artists, Storytellers, and Community Leaders The Teejop & Beyond: Celebrating Native Nations program will return to Madison Public Libraries this fall and they’re looking for presenters! Hosted in partnership with Ho Chunk Gaming Madison, this program welcomes a variety of Native artists, storytellers, and community leaders to lead events in our libraries throughout October, November and December. In the past, this series has included art workshops, youth storytimes, in-person or virtual presentations, outdoor guided activities, and more. The library welcomes any ideas that offer opportunities for participants to learn and connect with you as a presenter and with each other. What kinds of stories, art, and knowledge would you like to share with the communities of Teejop/Madison? This opportunity is open to Native persons living in Wisconsin, whether their homelands are in the Great Lakes region or elsewhere in the world. The deadline to apply is July 30 – learn more at madpl.org/teejopandbeyond. Learn Like an Alder The City of Madison wants to make it easier for elected officials to understand all of the work departments do so we’ve launched a video series where department heads help them do just that. Here you can find videos detailing agency budgets, giving overviews of services, and providing answers to frequently asked questions. Check it out for yourself and follow along as Madison creates the budget for 2024. Don’t Let Construction Keep You from Your Favorite Businesses Madison is growing and with that comes a number of high-impact road construction projects underway in highly visible and traveled spaces in the community including Atwood Avenue, University Avenue, E. Washington Avenue & S. Blair Street, Pleasant View Road, W. Wilson Street, S. Broom Street, Stoughton Road north of East Washington Avenue and Hammersley Road. While we’re excited for the infrastructure improvements and development to come, we know that construction can be especially hard on business so we want to remind everyone to please come support your favorite businesses in the middle of these projects Here are a number of ways to support local businesses in the middle of construction: Specifically look for businesses in construction areas to visit, buy and dine from. Follow the businesses on social media channels to stay in touch with daily deals or special promotions they may offer. Look for alternate ways and “open” signage to get into the business if regular entrance is blocked by construction. Buy goods online if they offer digitally. Share with others that the business is open to remind them to visit, too. Wear business swag to share brand awareness if they sell apparel. Schedule your next small coffee, meeting or get-together at the business. You can stay up to date on all current projects here. Keep Your Trees Leafy and Green If a tree has been planted on the terrace in front of your home by Urban Forestry within the last five years, or if you had a tree planted on your private property in that same window of time, this is a reminder that young trees need watering, especially during dry weather like we have been experiencing. Urban Forestry has deployed crews to water young trees on the terrace, but with thousands of terrace trees around Madison, residents are encouraged to help. Learn more about how you can keep our canopy healthy. Troubling Overdose Numbers Remind Us to Stay Safe Public Health Madison & Dane County issued a public health alert Wednesday afternoon following an increase in drug overdoses in the greater Madison community. It is unknown exactly what is driving this spike. It is possible that the make-up of street drugs in our community changed and could include a different mixture of opiates, fentanyl, or other synthetic drugs. When we talk about overdose trends and statistics, it’s important to remember that every number represents a life. It represents someone’s brother, friend, daughter, or neighbor. It represents someone who urgently needs to know this information. Learn more about how to keep yourself and loved ones safe.  Libraries Have Free Covid Tests Covid is still with us! Remember you can pick up a free Covid test kit along with a good book at Madison Public Libraries! |
