We haven’t dug through the yellowing stack of national newspapers to see what they are writing about our fair city in a few weeks. We thought now would be a great time to do so and bring to your attention all of the “Madison mentions” from the last week. For the newbies amongst you (and our traffic says there are many), roughly each week I look through papers and magazines (and a handful of online sites that function as if they have print counterparts) published outside of our state borders to see how the rest of the country is seeing us. The result is typically interesting and often educates us on many things happening in our own backyard that only a virgin eye could find. This week we start with a magazine – Gourmet.

Madison’s farmer’s market fresh restaurant Harvest received some pleasant praise in the “Local Goes National” guide from the foodie magazine. Gourmet writes:

Stateline.org is one of the websites that functions as if it has a print counterpart, but doesn’t. This week they take a hard look at binge drinking on college campuses and of course, no story about binge drinking would be complete with out a nod to UW-Madison. However, this time the mention is positive and mentions our “bar czar” and Alcohol Licensing Density Plan, “Last month, the Madison City Council approved the plan by former “bar czar” Joel Plant to limit the number of new bars allowed in downtown Madison, where there are already about 120 bars packed in less than one square mile.”

Madison native Cpl. Jason Scott is training Marines from the Kingdom of Tonga how to fight in the hot and arid conditions of Iraq. His work with the Tongan Marines is the featured cover story for the Third Army Desert Voice:

Madison has quite a few businesses being snatched up as businesses look to either catch up with Web 2.0 or have eyes set on web 3.0. Microsoft just purchased Madison based Jellyfish. What is Jellyfish?

Business Week explains: “Using Jellyfish, consumers can compare prices of products culled from a number of online stores. Retailers pay Jellyfish fees to promote their products, and Jellyfish refunds part of that revenue to consumers who buy through its site. The site also hosts an unusual form of auctions in which the prices of products get progressively lower until the supply runs out. No purchase price was disclosed for the deal, which closed Sept. 27 but wasn't announced until Oct. 2.”

Madison’s Habitat for Humanity affiliated ReStore recycling shop has inspired individuals in other cities to start similar shops. The Kane County Chronicle references it as they explore a new shop in Batavia, Illinois called the ReUseIt Center.

One city’s sorrow is another city’s benefit. Hudson, New Hampshire will be losing 100 jobs as Healy Systems, Inc. packs up and moves to Madison. The Boston Globe reports:

And according to the St. Louis Business Journal that city may be losing one of the city’s oldest and largest publicly traded companies as the Brown Shoe Company considers relocation. The decision could be known as soon as November and a source says the company is looking at Madison and Dallas.

Tonight on PBS a documentary started in 1964 that has been tracking the lives of children (now grown) every seven years returns to the air. According to insideBayArea.com the most notable of the bunch is Nick. He is also notable because he is “the farm boy, eventually became a nuclear physicist and lives in Madison, Wis.” The program, “Seven Up!,” airs tonight on PBS.

Madison born Freethought Radio has received a syndication deal with Air America. The nonreligious radio program will now be hosted by Christopher Hitchens and Dan Barker of Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation and broadcasted on 14 stations nationwide.

The Washington Times reports: “The goal of the new atheist radio program is to serve "the rest of us," he said. Mr. Barker pointed out that religious preaching can be heard on the radio or television round-the-clock seven days a week and that the free-thought radio show offers an alternative for one hour every week.”
Sigh, now if only I could get a syndication deal for my Flying Spaghetti Monster program. Pastafarians never get a break.

According to a press release from the Smithsonian Institute, Wisconsin Historical Society Director Ellsworth H. Brown has been named to the Smithsonian National Museum of History advisory board (we don’t normally do press releases, but we haven’t seen this distinction mentioned anywhere else locally).