8 O'Clock Buzz

The Dairy Drive Campground in Madison is set to close in the near future and at least seventeen residents will be losing housing due to federal funding coming to an end.  Brenda Konkel, Executive Director of Madison Street Medicine, joins host Tony Castañeda to talk about homelessness in Madison and what is needed to effectively address this issue.  Homelessness has increased by almost 20% over the past year and the increase is showing no signs of easing.  Brenda explains what is needed is adequate housing and any attempt to eliminate temporary shelters will just push the problems to other areas.

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Did you know that over 14,000 households in Dane County lack reliable digital connectivity? DANEnet offers technical support and equipment to over 100 non-profit organizations in Dane County, according to Director of Development, Sarah Linn. In addition, they are dedicated to improving social and economic equity by connecting low-income households to affordable internet service and computers, and by providing free computer literacy classes in community centers and libraries. This coming Friday, August 22, 2025, is their Back-to-School Tech recycling event, with goals to keep toxic materials out of landfills, ensuring that all recycled data devices are wiped completely, and refurbish, re-use, or sell to support their programs.

The post DANEnet Provides Tech Support to 100 Non-profits and Their Clients appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

Today on the too Turnt Up Tuesday 8:00 Buzz with Tara Wilhelmi and Antoine McNeail, Chris Davis, Jr and Donnell Washington join us in the studio to talk basketball, from Chris’ upcoming college career to his summer camp for kids to honoring his late father, lost too soon.

More on Chris and his career from Madison365: https://madison365.com/sun-prairies-chris-davis-jr-commits-to-college-of-charleston/

Follow Chris on X or Instagram to track his career and for news about next summer’s basketball camp: https://x.com/gbg_chris23  https://www.instagram.com/c.davis._23/ 

Sign up to play, volunteer or sponsor the 1st Annual Chris Davis, Sr Memorial Basketball Tournament, coming up on August 31st at Olbrich Park: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16HGWPsVQs/ 

Even more going on around town:

Music from today’s show: https://spinitron.com/WORT/pl/21102945/Tuesday-8-O-Clock-Buzz 

Listen in Madison at 89.9FM or online anywhere at wortfm.org.  Support your community radio with a donation online at wortfm.org!

The post I Don’t Want to Be Michael Jordan, I Just Want to Be Me appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

An extraterrestrial alien observing human behavior might be fascinated with the amount of time humans spend observing other humans moving small black and white spheres around with their feet.  Those spheres, known to most of the world as footballs, but here in the U.S., we call them soccer balls, are possibly the world’s most watched object.  The physics and the manufacturing difficulty of trying to create a durable, perfect sphere has caught the attention of French mathematician Étienne Ghys, whose new book called simply, “The Football” is out now in English translation from Princeton University Press. Étienne Ghys is a teacher at École normale supérieure in Lyons, France, and he joined the Monday Buzz on August 18, 2025.

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Folksinger Anne Feeney not only sang the songs, she walked the walk. Best known for the song “Have You Been to Jail for Justice,” Feeney herself found herself in jail many times for engaging in civil disobedience, the first time for disrupting the 1972 Republican National Convention in Miami.  Feeney also worked as a trial lawyer defending immigrants and refugees, founded Pittsburgh’s first rape crisis center, served as President of the Musician’s Union and was a card-carrying member of the International Workers of the World.  Feeney died of COVID-19 complications in 2021. In her honor, Feeney’s family and friends have established the Anne Feeney Hellraiser Fund which awards grants of up to $1,000 to emerging musicians who seek to carry on Feeney’s mantle.  Boston-based activist and musician Evan Greer is the deputy director of Fight for the Future, and one of the organizers of the Hellraiser Fund.  Evan Greer joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on August 18, 2025.

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The post Anne Feeney Hellraiser Fund Seeks Activist Artists appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

Since U.S. Nobel Laureate John Enders first introduced a vaccine in 1963, the incidence of measles has dropped precipitously worldwide.  As recently as 1990, measles killed more than half a million people a year.  In 2020, the World Health Organization estimated 150,000 measles deaths, a decline the WHO attributes to vaccinations.  In the past few years, though, declining vaccination rates have led to measles outbreaks, with 32 so far in the United States in 2025, and 9 confirmed cases in Wisconsin.  Morgan Finke is the Communication Coordinator for Public Health Madison / Dane County.  She joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on August 18, 2025.

(Image of child with measles, CDC/NIP/Barbara Rice, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

The post Keeping Measles at Bay appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

Tony’s guest on the 8 O’Clock Buzz is Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell, who talks with Tony about mistakes that were made in the 2024 election in Madison, and how the Wisconsin Election Commission has decided to handle future elections in the city.

Maribeth Witzel-Behl, the then City Clerk of Madison, oversaw a series of serious missteps that led to nearly 200 absentee ballots being uncounted during the November 2024 presidental election. Upon discovery of the 193 uncounted ballot, Witzel-Behl exhibted what the WEC described as an “astonishing” lack of urgency, leaving for vacation the day after learning about the issue.

Following an investigation into the ballot mishap, the WEC recently announced several key reforms aimed at Madison’s elections practices. In response to those recommendations, some Madison officials and election-law experts contend the WEC may be pushing the edge of its legal authority.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The post Ballot Fix or Power Grab? WEC’s Reforms Raise City’s Eyebr... appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

In July of 2024, the University of Maryland SJP’s (Students for Justice in Palestine) applied for an interfaith vigil on October 7th to mourn lives lost in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. Initially approved, the university bowed to KKK-like threats and eventually banned all rallies for that date. Daniela Columbi, member of SJP, talks about the subsequent lawsuit, and judgement in favor for SJP for $100,000 and permission to hold the rally as promised.

The post Students for Justice in Palestine Win $100K Lawsuit vs U of Maryland appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

Kevin Blakeslee (who plays Robert Kincaid in Music Theatre of Madison’s The Bridges of Madison County) talks to Jan Miyasaki about the upcoming six performances of that musical at the Play Circle Theatre at the Memorial Union, August 15, 16, 21, 22, and 23 at 7:30pm and August 17 at 2:00pm

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The UAW Local 95, involving over 120 nursing staff at MercyHealth East in Janesville, have been on strike for over 5 weeks, while management says that the workers are “not worth the investment”. Organizer Victoria Gutierrez, strike worker Enrique Casiano, and Madison labor activist Bryan Pfeifer talk about the issues leading to the strike, the negotiations (or lack of), and an upcoming rally and fundraiser for the striking workers, this coming Friday, August 15th, from 6-8PM at the Madison Labor Temple.

The post UAW Local 95: Negotiation Status and Start of Week 6 of Strike appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.