Unable to resolve your complaint State's health insurance overseer can be as tame as a paper tiger Bill Lueders on Thursday 10/22/2009, (1) Comment, (5) Recommendations A little more than a year ago, on Oct. 11, 2008, Joe "Kay" cut his hand while visiting his family in Green Bay. "I was trying to open a jammed window and things went badly," recalls Kay, a Madison resident. "The cut was very deep, all the way down to the bone." >More
NEWS
Backyard workshop is said to violate Madison zoning laws City to artist: Knock it off Bill Lueders on Thursday 10/22/2009, (1) Comment, (1) Recommendation Dan Hefty didn't think he had anything to hide. After all, he says, "the city granted me permits to build what I described as 'a high-tech workshop'" -- a garage-like structure behind his home on Madison's east side. And he built it to code. And so when city zoning inspectors showed up on Oct. 9 and asked to look around, Hefty let them in. Big mistake. >MorePocan takes on the morality police Bill Lueders on Thursday 10/22/2009 If listeners' jaws did not drop, they weren't paying attention. In an interview on WKOW-Channel 27 last week Wednesday, state Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison) was inveighing against efforts by state Rep. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) to expel state Rep. Jeff Wood (Independent-Chippewa Falls) from the Legislature for repeated driving-while-intoxicated arrests. He pegged such exercises as something of a slippery slope. >MoreWalk right in Shopping-center clinics offer easy access and flat-fee medical care David Medaris on Friday 10/23/2009 There's no waiting this morning at Meriter's walk-in FastCare Clinic on Madison's east side. Tucked into a corner at Shopko's Zeier Road location, the clinic looks like the miniaturized essence of a standard medical facility. There is a reception desk, a small waiting area with a couple empty chairs, a consultation room for seeing patients, and a lab for performing basic diagnostic tests. One man has just left, holding what appears to be a prescription note, perhaps bound for Shopko's convenient pharmacy. >More
MUSIC
Time Since Western mines for gold in Portland Wisconsin's Doc Holliday Jessica Steinhoff on Friday 10/23/2009, (2) Recommendations Many local concertgoers know Andy Brawner as the original bassist of chamber-pop heroes Pale Young Gentlemen. Many don't know that a couple of years ago, Brawner traded his bass for a guitar and launched his own project, Time Since Western, which blends Midwestern alt-country with West Coast indie rock and daydreams about cross-country car chases, Pacific Ocean-bound railroad tracks and other westward-ho themes. >MoreDavid Bazan breaks up with Christianity Faith no more for Pedro the Lion founder Rich Albertoni on Friday 10/23/2009 David Bazan was attending a Bible college in Seattle when he formed Pedro the Lion in 1995. Fourteen years later he's released a solo album that documents his breakup with Christianity. >MoreBishop Allen: Grrr... (Dead Oceans) Jessica Steinhoff on Friday 10/23/2009 Harvard is an incubator for people who become wildly successful in medicine, law, politics, science and business. Indie rock, though, isn't its forte. >More
What's in a name? Bill Lueders on Thursday 10/22/2009 The Madison Parks Division has a new name — sort of. "For marketing/logo purposes," says spokeswoman Laura Whitmore, "we are referring to ourselves as Madison Parks." >More
A gorgeous pair save White Collar Dean Robbins on Friday 10/23/2009 No, White Collar is not set in the real world. USA specializes in this kind of crime-solving fantasy, but the new series lacks the magic of Monk or Psych. >MoreBrutal Legend embraces heavy metal while thrashing it PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (Rated Mature) Doug Elfman on Friday 10/23/2009 Brutal Legend is a wondrous, creative video game that feels like Conan the Barbarian meets This Is Spinal Tap. Which means you kill a lot of monsters on a fantasy planet of Nordic ruins, megaliths and Stonehenge replicas -- by playing heavy metal music on your flying-V guitar. >More
MOVIES
'The War at Home,' Part 2 After years as an Emmy-winning TV producer, former Madison filmmaker David Medaris on Friday 10/23/2009, (1) Recommendation Almost three decades after leaving Madison to chase his ambitions, Glenn Silber returns this week for a 30th anniversary screening of The War at Home and the world premiere of his new documentary, Labor Day. The film represents a return to the progressive roots Silber put down in Madison as a UW student and to his independence as a filmmaker. >MoreA Serious Man retells the Job story The Coen brothers grow up Marjorie Baumgarten on Friday 10/23/2009 Embrace paradox; accept life's mysteries. These are some of the things that serious men learn. God owes us bupkis in the way of answers. With A Serious Man, the Coen brothers have made one of their best and most personal movies. It is rich with ideas and packed with the sort of existential jokes that tickle the Coen boys so. >More
Madison's best chefs bake fall's fave dessert for Pie Palooza Pie supply Linda Falkenstein on Friday 10/23/2009 Gooey pecan, homemade pumpkin, apple made with a mix of tart and sweet fruit. "There's something about the fall that just says 'pie,'" says Miriam Grunes, executive director of Madison's REAP Food Group. "I'm really craving pie right now." So it only makes sense that the annual REAP benefit, Pie Palooza, has moved this year from July to November, in part to take full advantage of our collective unconscious' association of autumn with flaky crust and luscious filling. >MoreCoopers Tavern construction to start soon Wait for new gastropub on Square almost over Linda Falkenstein on Friday 10/23/2009 The buzz about Coopers Tavern, a gastropub coming to the Square, has been around for months now, but with seemingly no change to the 20 W. Mifflin space. Co-owner Peter McElvanna says all the permits are finalized and construction on the space will start very soon. So far, the plan is for a soft opening on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, with lunch and dinner service beginning Dec. 2. >More
SPORTS & RECREATION
Following the money Jason Joyce on Thursday 10/22/2009, (1) Comment The New York Yankees have assembled the most expensive roster in Major League Baseball each year since 1998. The Yanks' $201 million payroll this season is 77% larger than that of the Los Angeles Angels, their rivals in the American League Championship Series, whose payroll ranks sixth. >More
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