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Friday, December 13, 2019 • Vol. 6, No. 10 • Fitchburg, WI • ConnectFitchburg.com • $1
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Spring election
Inside
Scott, 2 from OSD not running
Tax bills up $400 on average in MMSD, VASD Page 3
Mayor plans re-election campaign as half of council up for election
Business
KIMBERLY WETHAL Unified Newspaper Group
doesn’t speak Spanish, he said, so the learning curve to produce a show in a language he doesn’t understand can be steep. Controlling the teleprompter, which gives the co-hosts the script at their reading pace, is a challenge. “They’re reading it slow enough for us to read,” he said. Much of the content for “Descubriendo Contigo” comes from the FACTv show Crosby hosts, “Talking Fitchburg.” Crosby takes the stories from the English show and places them in Google Translate to turn it into
Most incumbents from the Fitchburg area have decided to run for re-election next spring. But a handful of seats have no incumbent as the window for gathering nomination papers to seek local public office next April opens. For all local and county governmental bodies, the first day aspiring candidates could start circulating nomination papers and collecting signatures was Sunday, Dec. 1. One incumbent who has announced she will not run for re-election is City of Fitchburg District 1 Ald. Anne Scott. And in the Oregon School District – one of three school districts in the city – two familiar names will not be on the school board ballot. Courtney Odorico, a former board president, and Barb Feeney will not seek re-election to their school board seats, both told the Star in emails. The spring election, held Tuesday, April 7, will also be a primary for the 2020 presidential election held later that year on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Incumbents have until late December to announce if they do not plan to run again, providing prospective candidates time to collect signatures to get nominated. Each race has a different number of qualified signatures a candidate must collect to get their name on the ballot, and all nominations must be fully completed and turned in to each respective organization clerk or agency by the end of the day Tuesday, Jan. 7. Candidates who plan to run again include Mayor Aaron Richardson, who is running for the post again after holding it for a little less than a year. Three Fitchburg Common Council members, Alds. Dan Bahr (D-2), Shannon Strassman (D-3) and Janell Rice (D-4) have all filed to run again. This is the first year in the city’s 36-year history that half the council will be up for election; in prior years it was all or none. Both of the school board members in the Verona Area School District, Debbie Biddle and Kristina Navarro-Haffner, will be on the ballot. Navarro-Haffner’s seat is limited to candidates from the City of Verona, but all district residents have the ability to vote for all seats. Biddle is serving out the final year for former board member Russell King, who
Turn to Spanish/Page 12
Turn to Scott/Page 12
Memory care continues Agrace expansion Page 15
Photos by Kimberly Wethal
Co-hosts Lupita Montoto and Julia Arata-Fratta talk on set during a filming of “Descubriendo Contigo”on Monday, Nov. 18.
Sports
‘Descubriendo Contigo’ FACTv starts Spanish language TV show to reach underserved residents KIMBERLY WETHAL
Wildcats finish off dominant season with state championship Page B1
Schools
OSU’s Multicultural Student Union gaining influence Page B7
Unified Newspaper Group
FACTv would like to go “discovering with you” – that “you” being the Spanish speaking population of Fitchburg. Translated, that’s Descubriendo Contigo – the name of the Spanish language news program FACTv started this year. The show started as an idea to reach the Latino community, Ald. Julia Arata-Fratta (Dist. 2), who co-hosts the show, told the Star in August. Fitchburg has the highest Hispanic population per capita in Dane County (about 17 percent based on 2018 U.S. Census estimates), and Arata-Fratta said about 70% of the 4,000 members of the Latino community here speaks Spanish. The idea of using the city’s resources to provide that population with information eventually transformed into the creation of “Descubriendo Contigo,” to bring them information they otherwise would miss. “We don’t see that community participate in some of the activities
FACTv manager Jeremy Crosby motions toward cameras the hosts are supposed to be looking. in the city,” she said. “The idea was how to communicate with the Latino community in Fitchburg about all of the activities that are happening.” The show went from dream to concept when Arata-Fratta and Lupita Montoto, co-founder of La Movida 94.5 FM, who co-hosts the show, demonstrated interest in creating a program for Spanish-speaking residents. The goal is to film Descubriendo Contigo every other week as a headline news show that plays on FACTv’s Community Channel at 5 p.m. daily. FACTv manager Jeremy Crosby
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