Center Stage, with Milfred and Hands

Milfred and Hands assess the crowded field of 11 Democrats hoping to win the party's nomination to take on U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, in next year's election. Wisconsin's Senate seat is one of three toss-up Senate races across the country. That means voters here could decide who controls the U.S. Senate. Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes is the front-runner in the Democratic primary, though he's hardly invincible, our political podcasters agree. They play audio clips from the top Democrats touting their bids, while assessing the broader political ramifications.

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Milfred and Hands tout the "likely" result, in the words of Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, of the lower half of State Street becoming a true pedestrian mall without any motorized vehicles, including city buses. Our political podcasters also tout the need to keep buses and imposing transit stations off the top half of State Street to keep exciting options open for the future. Milfred and Hands play audio clips from a city meeting last week on the topic. They also play a recording from a recent State Journal editorial board meeting of the mayor saying State Street businesses are "desperate." The mayor's office falsely claimed the State Journal editorial board had taken her out of context. 

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Milfred and Hands love Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway's commitment to improving public transit in Madison. A faster and modern bus system is long overdue. But those long, snazzy "bus rapid transit" vehicles that she's bringing to Madison -- with $80 million of help from the federal government -- don't need to rumble up and down State Street, the city's premier shopping and entertainment district. Instead, Madison's signature street should become a grand promenade for outdoor cafes, public art, trees and music. The buses can stop nearby and still get people where they need to go. On this week's episode of "Center Stage, with Milfred and Hands," our political podcasters discuss the State Journal editorial board's meeting with the mayor last week and play audio clips of Rhodes-Conway's objections to a true pedestrian mall on State Street, which Downtown businesses and advocates have sought.

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Milfred and Hands highlight Liz Cheney's and Elise Stefanik's connections to Wisconsin and its political leaders, including Cheney's birth in Madison and Stefanik's rise as a confidant of former House Speaker Paul Ryan of Janesville. Ryan was a young Republican star who quickly became a party pariah during the celebrity-driven rise of Donald Trump. While Cheney is a traditional conservative whose father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, worked for Wisconsin's governor while in grad school at UW-Madison in the late '60s, Stefanik is a formerly moderate Republican who reinvented herself as a Trump apologist and sycophant. Unlike Cheney, Stefanik has lost her way in pursuit of political power that's based on a failed president's fragile ego and lies. 

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Liberals seem to prefer Aaron Rodgers, and conservatives lean toward Brett Favre, as the Green Bay Packers' greatest quarterback (not counting Bart Starr). Milfred and Hands highlight how politics shapes our views of Rodgers' controversial standoff and potential split with the Packers. And they delve into the not-so-subtle political opinions of Rodgers (who recently opposed the Dakota pipeline) and Favre (who endorsed Donald Trump for president). Increasingly, Americans root for their political party the same way -- and with just as much enthusiasm and hypocrisy -- as they cheer for their favorite sports team or athlete. Does politics infect or enrich pro sports? Milfred and Hands get to the bottom of that question.

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Milfred and Hands quiz Dr. Patrick Remington, a UW-Madison expert on the spread of infectious disease, a year after their first podcast with him about COVID-19. A lot has changed. Remington says "clearly the worst is behind us," yet continuing to vaccinate more people is key to avoiding more contagious variants. Remington advises the vaccinated -- including Milfred and Hands, who just got their second Pfizer shots -- to live their lives while still being reasonably careful. He even prescribes our podcasters to go out for beers. Remington also address online disinformation, the changing science, a flare-up in Michigan, and young people going back to school.

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Milfred and Hands analyze the results of Tuesday's voting, which included a big upset on the Madison City Council, two incumbents defeated, and an emphatic rejection of a full-time council. Republican state Sen.-elect John Jagler got a scare, while Jill Underly had an easier time becoming state superintendent of schools, as expected. The candidate with the most money at the statewide level won, but that wasn't the case at the local level. Our political podcasters recap what happened and why, with a look to the future.

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Milfred and Hands play clips from the Wisconsin State Journal's recent endorsement meetings with 22 candidates in the April 6 election. This includes the two candidates for state superintendent of public instruction -- Deborah Kerr and Jill Underly -- responding to questions about Kerr's controversial tweet and who is better to improve learning for struggling students of color. Other big moments include Madison City Council candidates talking about white privilege, body cameras on police officers, turning State Street into a grand promenade, supporting denser housing developments and opposing a full-time City Council.

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Madison merchants "overwhelmingly support the campaign to turn State Street into a promenade," according to the city's longest serving and most popular alderman. "There absolutely is widespread support."

Ald. Mike Verveer, who has represented Downtown Madison on the City Council for 26 years, tells Milfred and Hands on this week's episode of "Center Stage" that his Downtown constituents are excited, too, about turning "the state's most famous and illustrious street" into a walking mall without buses, similar to the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado.

"Just as we closed State Street to all traffic on weekends last summer, I think we need to do the same this summer," Verveer tells our political podcaster.

The city should "seriously consider" keeping all buses, cabs and emergency vehicles off the 400, 500 and 600 blocks of State Street on weekends this summer. General traffic has been forbidden from the street for decades.

If removing the buses works well this summer and is supported by the public, the city could pursue federal money and potentially create a special tax district to draw revenue from new development on State Street to create a park on State Street with public art, cafes and greenery in the area that buses now dominate. 

“We have to be very creative and think outside the box and try to figure out ways to get to ‘yes’ and make this work,” Verveer says of offering more room for pedestrians on State Street on summer weekends this year.

COVID-19 has made this the perfect time to create more public spaces outside, where the virus is less likely to spread. State Street also is hurting because of rioting last year.

Milfred and Hands reject the suggestion by city transportation officials that turning State Street into a true pedestrian mall conflicts with bus rapid transit, the mayor's proposal for faster bus service. Buses could still stop at the cross streets of State Street to pick people up, and on the Capitol Square. Moreover, a trial of a pedestrian mall could occur at the bottom end of State Street this summer, where the fast buses aren't going to go anyway.

Verveer credits the State Journal editorial board for exciting and encouraging the city to think big about State Street's future. Milfred discusses his conversation with the city fire marshal, who is open to the idea of creating a grand walkway along State Street that caters to people, rather than buses.

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"I believe that progressive, 21st century police departments should have body-worn cameras," Chief Shon Barnes tells our podcasters just a few weeks into his new job as Madison's top cop. Madison is one of the few cities of its size without cameras on patrol officers and one of only a third of police agencies in Wisconsin that haven't embraced the technology. Uniform cameras provide transparency and accountability following controversial police encounters, which helps builds public trust. Yet Barnes stresses that whether to equip his officers with the devices is the community's decision, not his. "It's important to note that body-worn cameras have evolved tremendously from cameras that automatically turn on when your blue lights turn on, automatically turn on when your gun is unholstered, and there are cameras now that are attached to a fit bit," he says. "So you wear the fit bit so that the program knows what your resting and normal heart rate is, and if your heart rate is elevated, it turns your body-worn camera on." Milfred and Hands praise Barnes for his emphasis on technology, including better use of data. Barnes also talks about waiters and waitresses making good police recruits, and his desire to expand recruitment efforts into churches and other places to help diversify the force.

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