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It’s your paper! Friday, September 14, 2018 • Vol. 5, No. 7 • Fitchburg, WI • ConnectFitchburg.com • $1
Inside
City of Fitchburg
Agora Art Fair photos
‘Wind in the sails’
Page 2 Alders question ‘holes’ in Fitch-Rona EMS study Page 3 Part 2 of Solar series: City’s usage Page 9
Business
City’s grants support nonprofit programming in ‘priority neighborhoods’ SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
As the Leopold Elementary School students turned the herbs they had just harvested from the nearby woods into an afterschool pesto snack, Katy Clayshulte was feeling “magical.” This spring was Clayshulte’s first as the gardener-in-residence at the school, a position run by Community Groundworks, which offers garden programs at schools throughout Madison. She continued classes with neighborhood
students through the summer, and they’re picking up again this fall as the school year begins. “It’s something they can teach their friends or their family,” Clayshulte told the Star. “Then maybe (they tell me), ‘My mom made kale last night because I told her you can do that with kale.’ Just kind of being able to be little leaders.” Without her, the garden could still be the “unknown” it seemed to be when she began
Turn to Grants/Page 12
The neighborhoods The Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative identified the following three neighborhoods as priority areas for city programming and nonprofit partnerships: • North Fish Hatchery • Verona Road West/Jamestown • Belmar/Dunn’s Marsh
Another tight budget, mayor says
Mendota Springs Dentistry marks two years in Fitchburg
Proposed budget posted on city website Sept. 21
Page 13
SCOTT GIRARD
Sports
Unified Newspaper Group
Verona football rolls by Madison West 35-0 to improve to 3-1 this season Page B1
Schools
Page B7
Photo by Scott Girard
Kids flock to Bucky Badger, who made an appearance at the Fitchburg Technology Campus Back to School Block Party event Thursday, Aug. 23.
Bucky visits Back to School Block Party Ready or not, the end of summer has arrived. But the Fitchburg Technology Campus hosted its annual Back to School Block Party Thursday, Aug. 23, to ensure some fun is had in what little is left of summer. The event featured face painting, a visit from the Fitchburg Police Department’s K-9 unit, live music, Bucky Badger and ended with an outdoor showing of “The Secret Life of Pets.” PRSRT STANDARD ECRWSS US POSTAGE
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UNIFIED NEWSPAPER GROUP
Turn to Budget/Page 15
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Bids for new Verona Area High School project come in under budget
If the mayor’s comments last month and the city’s modest growth are any indication, it could be another difficult budget season in the City of Fitchburg. Mayor Jason Gonzalez plans to post his budget proposal on the city’s website Sept. 21. And during the Aug. 14 Common Council meeting, he “put everyone on notice,” telling alders the city would be over its levy limit if it were to grant all operational requests and the capital improvement plan approved earlier this year. “I don’t understand sometimes when people sit up here and talk about how they want to save taxpayer money and stuff, but then they go and add all these ridiculous things to the capital improvement plan,” he told the council. That 10-year planning document does not set any spending, but it forms the basis of capital requests for the budget, such as roads,