Author: Gordon Govier

Brewers first baseman Jesús Aguilar hit his National-League-leading 23rd home run Monday night and is very much in the early conversations for MVP. But he’s not on the NL’s All Star Roster. Not yet, at least. And you can help change it. Read more of this story.  

Nearly 15,000 children in Dane County live in poverty, one in six Dane County children face hunger and about 800 Madison Metropolitan School District students are homeless. In the face of those statistics, local nonprofit Selfless Ambition announced today that it will partner with Second Harvest Food Bank and the Madison Metropolitan School District to place food pantries in schools with the highest levels of poverty, beginning with Glendale Elementary this fall.

A church that has operated out of Chavez Elementary School since 2013 could soon have a home of its own – and a chance to share it. Redeemer City Church pastor Casey Johnson told the Star the church is set to take over the former Steven’s Design building, 5356 King James Way, though it still needs some approvals from the City of Fitchburg’s Plan Commission and Common Council. Johnson said the church has been looking for building space in the Fitchburg area for about a year, and “wanted to be in an area that lacked resources,” like building space on…

Dane County will begin working with Madison-area Urban Ministry (MUM), Nehemiah Center for Urban Leadership Development, Anesis Center for Marriage and Family Therapy and the Jessie Crawford Recovery Center to help inmates who are transitioning into the community from the Dane County Jail, Dane County Executive Director Joe Parisi announced today.

As an African-American woman in a denomination that’s nearly all white, the Rev. Viviane Thomas-Breitfeld says she hopes to make the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America more appealing to minorities. Thomas-Breitfeld, from Brookfield, was recently elected bishop for the ELCA’s South-Central Synod of Wisconsin, a region that includes Madison, Janesville, Beloit and many rural communities.

Like most Wednesday afternoons, organ music echoed through the historic Luther Memorial Church earlier this month.Bruce Bengtson, the church’s longtime music director, had led the free organ concerts — a tradition that predated him — since he began working at the church as a 24-year-old. But on this week he was showered with applause before and after the concert, handshakes and hugs by the approximately 100 people who attended the concert, more than would typically come to listen to him improvise his way through classic organ pieces.That’s because the concert was his last at Luther Memorial.

Robert Pierce has been passing on his farming skills for years, teaching urban agriculture to at-risk youth and the formerly incarcerated. Now, in a partnership with Madison-area Urban Ministry, he’ll expand his work with the formerly incarcerated, bringing a class of five to the farm. They’ll be paid for their time, learn to grow their own food and benefit from the dignity of work.

The Lifest at Brat Fest stage was a new venue this year, a big top tent. Very helpful if it rained (no rain in the forecast), or if the sun was beating down mercilessly, which turned out to be the case for 2018. The fifth annual community worship service drew a crowd of several hundred that filled the tent on Sunday morning. “I love the local church, but I also love the church universal,” said Bob Lenz, president of Life Promotions, as he welcomed the attendees. Lenz and his team are preparing for the Lifest Christian music festival, which will…

One of the best times to visit Brat Fest this Memorial Day Holiday weekend will be Sunday morning. Early in the morning, before it gets hot, the forecasters predict that the sun will be shining on the annual Community Worship Service on the Lifest at Brat Fest stage on Willow Island at Madison’s Alliant Energy Center. The service will run from 8:30am to 9:45am. This will be the fifth community worship service at Brat Fest, since the Lifest partnership was announced in 2014. The speaker will be York Moore, National Evangelist for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Although InterVarsity has its national…

According to WalletHub’s findings, Madison, Wisconsin, is the most caring city in the country with a 68.13 score. The city also claimed the top spot in the “caring for the workforce” category. Interestingly, Madison also donates the second lowest percentage of its income to charity (Memphis, Tennessee donates the highest), but its other caring qualities apparently balanced that out.