Welcome back to Madison Mentions, the best place in town to find out what the rest of the nation and occasionally the world is reading about Madison, Wisconsin. This week marks the two year anniversary of our Madison mentions feature and what an anniversary it is. Flipping through the various papers reveals a fairly busy week for Madison in the press beyond our state borders.

We start our trip at the San Francisco Zoo where the San Jose Mercury News takes a look at the life and times of Tatiana, the Siberian tiger that was shot to death after it killed a San Jose teen. Why is this important to Madison? Tatiana was born at the Denver Zoo in 2003 where she was part of a litter that included her bother, Waldemere, and sister, Mariette. If you've been to the Henry Vilas Zoo here in Madison then you have likely met Mariette.

Peter Berryman is fairly well known around these parts for his constant contribution to the soundtrack of Wisconsin. Berryman was interviewed by the Pioneer Press as that state looks for a state song to celebrate 150 years. In addition to his many songs about Wisconsin Berryman has written at least one song about our neighbors on the flipside of the Mississippi - a song "called 'Minnesota Chapstix' that consists solely of names of Minnesota towns sung to the tune of 'Chopsticks.'"

According to the St. Louis Business Journal we should know sometime in the next few weeks if the Brown Shoe Company will be moving it's headquarters from St. Louis to Madison or to Dallas.

Rockford, Ill. doesn't have any tornado warning sirens. According to the Rockford Register Star: "People who move here from other cities such as Madison, Wis., Springfield, Peoria and the suburbs are often shocked to discover that Rockford has no sirens." We aren't sure which is more shocking, that Rockford has no tornado sirens or that people move to Rockford from Madison.

Madison continues to inspire other cities with our progressive thinking. According to the Edmond Sun in Oklahoma the city of Edmond and the University of Central Oklahoma now have a bike program similar to our red bike program called "bum-a-bike." The owner of Flatire Burger in Edmond saw a news segment about bikes being left all over Madison for people to use and decided to try it in his town.

The Indianapolis Star writes that the Indiana town of Bloomington has a "growing reputation for a food-focused atmosphere — which may soon rival those of such culinary college towns as Madison, Wis." Mmmm...such good food in Madison...sigh...

John Stauber of the Madison-based Center for Media and Democracy weighs in on BP's break from the Global Climate Coaltion in the most recent issue of Adweek: