WORT Local News

Here's your local news for Tuesday, September 3, 2024:

• We attend LaborFest 2024, which brought big crowds, big names, and calls to action,
• Get the latest Medicare savings estimates from consumer advocates,
• Find out why water birds are flocking to Dane County,
• And much more.

It's Labor Day and WORT's Forward Lookout is back from their hiatus for an extended, welcome-back edition of the feature.

Brenda Konkel sits down with new co-host/producer Rebecca Kemble to talk about why the Forward Lookout blog started decades ago, and why Madison's version of the Wheeler Report is still running.

Plus: what's up with the city referendum, and how did the Police Civilian Review Board come to be? These two former Madison alders have the receipts.

In tonight's news...

• Metro Transit leaders gave a sneak peek of the new BRT route on Tuesday, as the new service is set to launch next month,

• The Wisconsin Veterans Museum is looking to the future, hoping to build a new museum on the Capitol Square,

• Our open records feature, Transparency Talk, adds one more to the team while talking body camera footage and a case before the State Supreme court on quasi-governmental corporations, 

• Plus, what fishing for the Labor Day weekend and the Forward Madison football club competes for the Jägermeister Cup.

Here are your local headlines for August 28, 2024:

• Some Wisconsin Democrats running for Congress this time around are getting a necessary boost - we talk with a political analyst on why, 

• The first leg of Bus Rapid Transit is coming to the city of Madison in a little under a month, and we get a preview from city leaders, including Mayor Rhodes-Conway,  

• And it's been HOT out there, but today's cooled off. Our weather expert has a recap and the days ahead. Plus, we travel back to headlines from 1968.

On this show:

• Some municipalities open cooling centers during the heat wave.
• We learn about 'corn sweat' and how it contributes to humidity.
• Ospreys make their way to the Humane Society.
• We hear about a new exhibit at the Chazen.
• And more.

In today's show:

• The UW Board of Regents lays off tenured professors under austerity measures.
• New rural road initiative is coming to Wisconsin.
• We hear from Senator Tammy Baldwin about the upcoming campaign.
• We learn to make a great Irish Coffee.
• We remember the fallout from Hurricane Katrina.
• And more

We round out a week's worth of reporting from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago with an extra-special, four-hour broadcast featuring the speech from Democratic Nominee Kamala Harris herself. 

The theme for the night was "for our future,” and featured additional speeches from Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, former Representative Adam Kinzinger, and Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin. Plenty of entertainment from celebrities, too, from The Chicks to Kerry Washington. 

Co-anchors Jenna Flanagan and Chali Pittman set up the history of Harris as she seeks to define herself tonight, and in the 74 remaining days until the election. They take a look at her time spent as prosecutor and Attorney General. They're joined by floor correspondents Bob Hennelly and Faye Parks for updates from the floor. 

Paulina Gonzalez-Brito, of Rise Economy based in Oakland, California, joins us to talk about Harris's record on the foreclosure crisis. Nora Gordon tells Senior Producer/Reporter Sara Gabler about the future of education under a Democratic, or Republican, administration. 

We hear from more Uncommitted delegates at the convention along with faith leaders. we go to reporter Leslie Lozada to the scene of the March on the DNC, which kicked off another march this evening. 

We take a look at the Black women who set the stage for Harris: namely, Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress and the first Black woman to seek the presidential nomination from one of two major political parties. We speak with Shola Lynch, the filmmaker behind CHISHOLM '72: Unbought and Unbossed. 

And we take a look at Harris's prosecutorial record, particularly on the death penalty, with Chicago-based educator, minister, and community organizer Renaldo Hudson. He spent 37 years incarcerated and 13 years on death row before being commuted — twice — and released in 2020.

This is We Decide: America at the Crossroads, from the Pacifica Radio Network. National coverage is supported by sustaining sponsorships from unions representing close to two million rank and file members. Check back with us each day for updates on the WORT live blog. Project graphic: Ariandy Luna. Cover photo: Faye Parks. 

The theme of the third night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago was "a fight for our freedoms," and featured speeches from former President Bill Clinton, transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, and a surprise appearance from Oprah.

And Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz took to the stage for the biggest speech of his life.

In keeping with the DNC theme for the night, co-anchors Jenna Flanagan and Chali Pittman examine the freedoms enjoyed, or not enjoyed, by the people of this nation.

Executive director and correspondent Bob Hennelly finds an open bar and other new spaces on the floor of the United Center while updating us about what's happening on the convention floor.

Later in the show, Nina Turner, national co-chair of Bernie Sanders's 2020 presidential campaign who joins us to tell us why her unsuccessful bids for Congress should act as a canary in the coal mine for other progressive candidates on the threat of dark money.

And, the Public Media Institute's Nick Wylie speaks with Uncommitted delegates on the convention floor.

Senior reporter Carlos Dávalos speaks with Miguel Alvelo, executive director of the Latino Union of Chicago on why both parties fail to speak meaningfully about immigration, and why the union's recently helped file a lawsuit against Chicago police officers, Home Depot employees, and other security personnel.

Meanwhile, senior reporter Faye Parks brings us to the site of a mobile reproductive health van near the DNC, which has paired up with a traveling art exhibition to offer medication abortion and vasectomies.

And, senior producer Sara Gabler brings us more about the Democratic Party's mixed environmental record.

We also recap the Progressive Central conference held earlier this week, and Lumpen Radio's August Abitang and Ariandy Luna speak with Patrick Cleary, head of the Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2. Chicago firefighters and EMS are protesting after three years without a contract.

And Bob Hennelly catches up with Ty Pinkins, a candidate for US Senate in Mississippi who says that Democrats need to meaningfully reach out to rural communities.

This is We Decide: America at the Crossroads, from the Pacifica Radio Network. National coverage is supported by sustaining sponsorships from unions representing close to two million rank and file members. Check back with us each day for updates on the WORT live blog. Project graphic: Ariandy Luna.

The theme of the second night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago was “a bold vision for America’s future,” and featured speeches from Barack and Michelle Obama, Senator Bernie Sanders, Vice President Harris speaking in Milwaukee, and a symbolic roll call from each state and US territory.

Co-anchors Jenna Flanagan and Chali Pittman speak to Muhammad Sankari, lead organizer with U.S. Palestinian Community Network and former lead youth organizer with the Arab American Action Network. Plus, we hear updates from the Poor People's Army march on Monday.

Bill Ayers joins us to talk about the comparisons — and contrasts — between now and bloody 1968. We hear about a musical comparing the present and historical moment that's part of a week's worth of counter-programming at Chicago's Co-Prosperity Center.

And as Bernie Sanders makes the makes the case for guaranteed health care, we hear from Illinois nurses who have gone on strike and turn to a protest from Workers Strike Back.

Plus, executive director and correspondent Bob Hennelly gives us updates from the floor of the United Center.

This is We Decide: America at the Crossroads, from the Pacifica Radio Network. National coverage is supported by sustaining sponsorships from unions representing close to two million rank and file members. Check back with us each day for updates on the WORT live blog. Graphic: Ariandy Luna

The first day of the Democratic National Convention was labor heavy, featuring the heads of at least seven unions. We take we take up housing and labor issues facing the city of Chicago — and across the nation.

Co-anchors Jenna Flanagan and Chali Pittman speak with local journalist Kari Lyderson about the Bring Chicago Home campaign, Chicago Teachers Union president Stacy Davis Gates, Lisa Lee of the National Public Housing Museum, and Rev. William Barber.

They turn to live speeches on the floor from Presidential nominee Kamala Harris, UAW head Shawn Fain, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes. Plus, executive director and correspondent Bob Hennelly gives us updates from the floor of the United Center.

This is We Decide: America at the Crossroads, from the Pacifica Radio Network. National coverage is supported by sustaining sponsorships from unions representing close to two million rank and file members. Graphic: Ariandy Luna