WORT Local News

Here's your local news for Wednesday, January 8, 2025:

• We share the latest on a resolution that would save two Madison ice arenas,
• Find out who's running for office this spring,
• Discuss Meta's new fact-checking policy,
• Learn how a defamation lawsuit impacted a local news editor,
• Broadcast the most in-depth weather report on the airwaves,
• Travel back in time to 1965,
• And much more.

Here's your local news for Tuesday, January 7, 2025:

• We have the latest details as Police Chief Shon Barnes prepares to leave the city for a new job,
• Find out why emergency teaching licenses are on the rise in Wisconsin,
• Track avian influenza outbreaks in livestock - and people,
• Examine the rightward shift among Indian American voters,
• Remind dog owners to protect their pooches from parasitic infection,
• And much more.

Here's your local news for Monday, January 6, 2025:

• We hear party leaders' priorities for the state's next biennial budget,
• Discuss gun reform after last month's school shooting in Madison,
• Find out how the Wisconsin Innocence Project plans to spend a $1.5 million federal grant,
• Take a look at the government's calendar for the week ahead,
• Celebrate a radical Republican abolitionist's birthday,
• Teach you how to make a popular cocktail,
• Review a new biopic,
• And much more.

Just because we're in a new year, leaving the stuff we don't want to carry anymore in the old year might not be so easy. It could take weeks, months, years, or even... 1,000 hearts to let go.

Erika Koivunen is an artist and for many years, she worked with metal and fire until heartbreak turned those flames into yarn. In 2023, she lost her Park Street shop in a three-alarm fire. It was the second tragedy in a short amount of time. She had recently lost her husband and business partner, Aaron Howard -- who shared the studio with her for nearly 15 years. 

In this Radio Chipstone news special, feature contributor Gianofer Fields sits down with her good friend Erika to ask how she's mending her broken heart. 

Stu Levitan presents a special New Year's Eve history lesson on Madison's greatest decade... the 1970s, when the highest hopes and worst fears of the 1960s came true.

In four segments, Levitan presents how the city burned in the spring semester of 1970, catalogs the extraordinary women of the decade, documents the revolutionary first administration of Paul Soglin, and take a walk through the city's seamier side.

On August 12th, 2024, Kevin Price made a call for help.

But instead of getting help, Price was shot by a Fitchburg police officer. He would spend three days in a hospital without his family knowing before he died.

WORT News Producer Faye Parks spent months reviewing the investigation that followed - and asking experts what broke down. It's led to tonight's special: Justice and Accountability for Kevin Price. Full transcript and more information at the online link to this story.

Here's your local news for Thursday, December 19, 2024:

• We talk school safety measures,
• Hear Speaker Vos' priorities for the next legislative session,
• Get more details on last month's oil spill in Jefferson County,
• Share ten open records tips,
• Tell you where it's still safe to ice fish after this weekend's warm-up,
• Look ahead to the Flamingos' next season,
• And much more.

Here's your local news for Wednesday, December 18, 2024:

• We attend a vigil mourning the victims of the ALCS shooting,
• Sit down with Chief Barnes, who's urging patience as police carry out their investigation,
• Learn how emergency management experts prepare for chemical spills,
• Broadcast the most comprehensive weather report on the airwaves,
• Travel back in time to 1960,
• And much more.

Here's your local news for Tuesday, December 17, 2024:

• We share the latest updates on yesterday's school shooting in Madison,
• Ask an expert how to support children following a crisis event,
• Describe how Waupaca County residents faced down big business,
• Talk to Friendly Black Foodies about their quest for good food,
• Explain the nuances of animal hibernation,
• And much more.

Here's your local news for Monday, December 16, 2024:

• We have the latest information on a school shooting this morning in Madison,
• Check in with Midwest Environmental Advocates after last month's Enbridge oil spill in Jefferson County,
• Share the government’s calendar for the week ahead,
• Celebrate a renowned anthropologist’s birthday,
• Review a classic holiday movie,
• And much more.