Its not enough these days for kids to have a pitcher of lemonade and a stack of glasses to make a few bucks to spend on ice cream. The other day as part of a yard sale offering in the 900 block of Jenifer, a sub-10 year-old was hawking some original art. He was at it again today with no price cut; this art appreciates and is appreciated.
Yesterday at the Old Sugar Distillery on Main Street the Friday after work cocktails were flowing. OSD offers a nice line-up of quality drinks to sip on a warm afternoon but we were curious about how they made Wisconsin’s Cocktail: The Brandy Old Fashioned.
The drink originated in New York City as early as 1855 and may have been named after a racing horse named “fashion”. While early recipes called for whiskey, Wisconsin folks started using Wisconsin brandy and thus the name was born.
Old Sugar Distillery bartender Chris was kind enough to walk us through how to make a proper Wisconsin Brady Old Fashioned using their in-house Brandy Station brandy made from grapes grown in Dane County.
Union Corners has been vacant for quite some time but the City sees its redevelopment as one of the crown jewels of resurrecting the Capitol East corridor. The red bricks (at right) from the French Battery Company plant will be incorporated into the new development.
The City of Madison and Gorman & Company of Oregon, Wisconsin have signed a Letter Of Intent to proceed with developing Union Corners. District Six Alder Marsha Rummel announced the successful negotiations with Gorman to purchase the City-owned property in an email to constituents. When completed the development will include a health clinic, Madison Library branch and 50-100 housing units.
Rummel, whose district includes the Union Corners property, will introduce a resolution approving the Union Corners Selection Committee’s recommendation of Gorman & Company as the developer and authorizing the City to execute a purchase agreement for the property in the sum of $1. Continue reading
MNA President Michael Jacob poses with 2013 Peat-Piper Memorial Scholarship winners Huck Sachse-Hofheimer (right), and Rudy Hernandez.
In October 1991 friends Becky Peat and Margaret “Burkie” Piper who were sophomores at Madison East High School were killed by a driver as they crossed East Washington Avenue in front of the school.
In the years following the crash the Peat-Piper Memorial Scholarship fund was set up to award $500 each year to Madison East High students.
The fund is administered by the Marquette Neighborhood Association and is funded partially through proceeds from MNA fundraisers.
This year four recipients were named, three from East and one from Shabazz City High School. Wednesday night (June 5) the awards were presented to the East students by MNA President Michael Jacob.
The festivities will begin early Saturday with the Dandelion Dash, a fun run with various distances, culminating in the dash involving the youngest runners making 100 yard scamper. The 5K race is open to all while there will be two heats for the Dandelion Dash; one for children 6 to 9 years old and one for children 5 and under. See after the jump why this last race can not be missed.
An early graphic on the side of Plan B which has since been scraped off. If the agreement is approved by all parties a new mural will go up on this wall.
In the hours before the Alcohol Licensing Review Committee was to meet to rule on the renewal of Plan B’s license, the nightclub, the Marquette Neighborhood Association and neighbors concerned by noise came to an agreement about how to address the issue collaboratively.
The agreement is independent of any ALRC action, but evolved out of the committee’s directive from last year’s separation hearing for all the parties to continue to work together. Later during the hearing, the ALRC renewed Plan B’s license.
It is unclear if the renewal was a direct result of the announced agreement but City of Madison representatives were closely involved in helping to craft the deal. The agreement is still tentative and the MNA Board will consider whether to endorse at its meeting on Thursday. Continue reading
My location (right) on the night I heard the somewhat typical Plan B hubbub. Without trying, I was able to clearly hear talking and music from over 200 yards away. Base image courtesy: Google
In a few days the Alcohol License Review Committee will hold a separate hearing to further examine the renewal of Plan B nightclub’s alcohol license. This is the second straight year the establishment, located at 924 Williamson Street, has received extra scrutiny rather than their license being renewed in a block by the City of Madison.
This blog has looked at the various reasons for the problem surrounding Plan B’s operation, and both the owners of the club and neighbors affected by the noise have legitimate beefs. But it was not until Sunday night, May 26, when I took Plan B co-owner Rico Sabatini up on his challenge to take a late night walk on Jenifer Street, that I concluded that Sabatini and his partner Cory Gresen are not trying hard enough.
The City of Madison Alcohol Licensing Review Committee voted Wednesday night (May 22) to separate Plan B Nightclub’s (924 Williamson Street) license renewal and consider it at a special hearing on June 3. The separation was requested by the Marquette Neighborhood Association, in a letter, citing unresolved noise issues since the nightclub opened in 2009.
While the typical nightclub noise has largely been addressed, at least three households on the 900 block of Jenifer Street continue to cite lost sleep from low bass frequency noise emanating from Plan B. Both the club’s owners, and an audio specialist they hired to assess the location, agree bass noise is being transmitted through the roof of the club; housed in an older concrete block building that used to house Star Photo, a commercial photo processing business. Continue reading
Madison East High Senior Charles Lombardo before his flight with Bob Gilbreath. Charles took aviation classes from the late Erik Anderson and will join the Navy this summer.
A promise of the departed was fulfilled by his friends Saturday (May 11) as students of Erik Anderson were given airplane rides at the Dane Country Regional Airport. Anderson taught Aviation classes at Madison East High School and music at Sherman Middle School for 11 years before he died suddenly in his classroom last September.
Known by students and colleagues alike as having the unique ability to connect and motivate the most troubled students, Anderson reveled in teaching Aviation at East and promised to take any student that was interested for a ride in his airplane, which he kept at his home on the Waunakee Airport.
Source: Osobrewing.com
Madison Craft Beer Week is in full swing and while there are dozens of events around the city, the O’so Tasting and Brat cook out with Catfish Stephenson event from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m at Mickey’s Tavern Wednesday night (May 8) is a worthy mid-week stop.
I wrote last year about the event after encountering Underground Meat’s sample table featuring Goat Salami; an animal I had never tried before but ended up buying a package of the charcuterie that is made right here in the neighborhood.
While the beer was quite good, what truly left an impression last year was the most savory brats I have ever tasted. They were so good I spent the next year trying to find out who made them. Each subsequent visit to Mickey’s included an interrogation of a server or bartender about the mysterious cook and the magical recipe that produced brats that I’m sure Walter White would describe as “pharmaceutical grade”. Continue reading