WORT Local News
Breaking news and feature stories straight from the WORT News team’s underground lair in Madison, Wisconsin. New episodes every Monday through Thursday at 7:30 PM. Also available live on 89.9 FM from 6:00-7:00 PM and online anytime at WORTFM.org.
Episodes
Here's your local news for Thursday, July 3, 2025:
- We explain why the governor rushed to sign Wisconsin's next budget,
- Outline an amendment that's heading back to Madison's Police Civilian Oversight Board for the sixth time,
- Meet Madison Public Library Director Tana Elias,
- Discuss some recent changes to Wisconsin's Public Records Guide,
- Share the best spots to cast your fishing line this holiday weekend,
- Celebrate the Flamingos' long...
Here's your local news for Wednesday, July 2, 2025:
- We outline some state budget amendments rejected in the Senate's marathon floor session today,
- Find out how UW Health nurses are continuing their fight for collective bargaining rights,
- Check in with Planned Parenthood after today’s victory in the state Supreme Court,
- Consider journalism's role in democracy,
- Travel back in time to 1968,
- And much more.
Here's your local news for Tuesday, July 1, 2025:
- We outline the latest partisan debate over the state budget,
- Consider the future of communications at the Dane County jail,
- Share some dairy industry updates,
- Meet a local ice cream maker,
- Celebrate one of nature's tiniest travelers,
- And much more.
Here's your local news for Monday, June 30, 2025:
- We find out why victim service providers are sounding the alarm on the Legislature's proposed state budget,
- Join this weekend's Queer Liberation March,
- Share the local government's calendar for the week ahead,
- Hear a radical historian's take on Independence Day,
- Review two movies,
- And much more.
Here's your local news for Thursday, June 26, 2025:
- We attend a city budget engagement session at the Black Business Hub,
- Hear the details on a health care bill that got unanimous support in both chambers of the state Legislature,
- Meet city of Madison Human Resources Director Erin Hillson,
- Find out why police oversight advocates are sounding the alarm on a proposal headed to the city council,
- Explain why you need building permits,
- Wa...
Here's your local news for Wednesday, June 25, 2025:
- We get the details on a bid to revitalize the western corner of Capitol Square,
- Hear the pros and cons of a proposed low-income housing development on Verona Road,
- Brave the heat to participate in a flax processing demonstration,
- Share lessons in solidarity from the Act Up movement,
- Broadcast the most comprehensive weather report on the airwaves,
- Travel back in time to 1966,
- And muc...
Here's your local news for Tuesday, June 24, 2025:
- We hear how federal decision making could impact the city of Madison,
- Check in with environmental advocates after today's win in the state Supreme Court,
- Discuss the skyrocketing price of beef,
- Find out why AARP Wisconsin supports expanding housing options,
- Get a baby season update from the Dane County Humane Society's Wildlife Rehabilitation Center,
- And much more.
Here's your local news for Monday, June 23, 2025:
- We explain why Senate Republicans stripped funding allocations last week from a handful of bipartisan bills,
- Discuss the state budget with a pair of veteran journalists,
- Share the local government's calendar for the week ahead,
- Celebrate a trailblazing author's birthday,
- Teach you how to make a summertime cocktail,
- Review two very different films,
- And much more.
Here's your local news for Thursday, June 19, 2025:
- We consider security at Wisconsin's Capitol building after the politically-motivated shootings in Minnesota,
- Celebrate Juneteenth,
- Explain your right to record public meetings,
- Tell you the best spots for fishing in the Madison area,
- Share the latest news from the 'Mingos,
- And much more.
Here's your local news for Wednesday, June 18, 2025:
- We share the latest on an active hazmat investigation in Madison,
- Find out how state regulations for nicotine vapes will change next month,
- Speak with a Tone Madison reporter who investigated living conditions at a local housing-focused nonprofit,
- Learn why non-violence is an effective form of resistance,
- Broadcast the most comprehensive weather report on the airwaves,
- Travel back ...
Here's your local news for Tuesday, June 17, 2025:
- We hear state Republicans' public safety budget priorities,
- Meet city of Madison Finance Director Dave Schmiedicke,
- Discuss today's unanimous ruling in the state Supreme Court,
- Explain the causes and consequences of the nationwide cattle shortage,
- Sit down with a local hot sauce connoisseur,
- Describe some funny moments caught on candid camera at the Dane County Humane Society's Wildl...
Here's your local news for Monday, June 16, 2025:
- We head to this Saturday's "Kick Out the Clowns" rally in downtown Madison,
- Hear Wisconsin Democrats' plan for a busy 2026,
- Share an excerpt of Governor Tony Evers' speech at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin's annual convention this weekend,
- Mark an important anniversary in Canadian labor history,
- Teach you how to make a popular cocktail,
- Review two movies,
- And much more.
Here's your local news for Thursday, June 12, 2025:
- We share an inside look into yesterday's tense budget listening session on Madison's north side,
- Find out why advocates are sounding the alarm after a handful of Wisconsin hospital systems scrubbed diversity language from their websites,
- Sit down with a community-based journalist covering the protests in Los Angeles,
- Explain the big, round hole in your basement floor,
- Explore the d...
Here's your local news for Wednesday, June 11, 2025:
- We share the details on some new proposals that seek to expand housing options in Madison,
- Hear the mission behind a proposed "sustainability campus" across the street from the Dane County landfill,
- Check in on the fight for union recognition at Group Health Cooperative,
- Broadcast the most comprehensive weather report on the airwaves,
- Travel back in time to 1968,
- And much more.
Here's your local news for Tuesday, June 10, 2025:
- We have the latest on the budget back and forth at the state Capitol,
- Find out why ACLU of Wisconsin is urging the state Supreme Court to act fast on a lawsuit challenging Wisconsin's congressional maps,
- Examine why dairy prices are rising once again,
- Describe the constitutional role of the military,
- Share the story of a special patient at the Dane County Humane Society's Wildlife R...
Here's your local news for Monday, June 9, 2025:
- We hear from state party leaders as they prepare for the 2026 midterms,
- Outline the economic impact of having an incarcerated family member,
- Find out why Planned Parenthood is sounding the alarm on the Republican budget bill making its way through Congress,
- Share the local government's calendar for the week ahead,
- Remember the historic 1967 attack on the USS Liberty,
- Teach you how to m...
Here's your local news for Thursday, June 5, 2025:
- We hear what top Democrats and Republicans have to say about the stalled budget negotiations,
- Find out why gasoline prices disproportionately burden Black and Latiné drivers,
- Outline the benefits of sharing public records before they're requested,
- Tell you where to catch bluegills in the Madison area,
- Check in on the Flamingos after yet another draw,
- And much more.
Here's your local news for Wednesday, June 4, 2025:
- We hear state Democrats' plan to protect Wisconsinites from federal funding cuts,
- Share the details on last night's alcohol license-heavy city council meeting,
- Broadcast the most comprehensive weather report on the airwaves,
- Travel back in time for the birth of Madison's gay rights movement,
- And much more.
Here's your local news for Tuesday, June 3, 2025:
- We get the details on the gun safety package state Democrats introduced today,
- Learn how the proposed cuts to Medicaid could impact Wisconsinites seeking postpartum treatment,
- Find out why the EU says "no thanks" to beef and chicken imported from the United States,
- Meet some food vendors at WORTstock 2025,
- Celebrate the power of community support,
- And much more.
Here's your local news for Monday, June 2, 2025:
- We cover the conclusion of the nurses strike at Meriter hospital,
- Hear what Wisconsin's Congressional Democrats had to say today after they toured an ICE detention facility in Dodge County,
- Share the local government's busy calendar for the week ahead,
- Celebrate a media reformer's birthday,
- Teach you how to make a popular cocktail,
- Review an Academy Award-winning documentary,
- And much m...
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