Know Your Madisonian 2021: Profiles from the Wisconsin State Journal's weekly series
They're your neighbors, co-workers or friends you may not have met yet. And they all have a story to tell.
(21) updates to this series since Updated
Lessner started out in the laundromat business when he was about 10 years old helping his dad.
The Madison Police Department's new public information officer Tyler Grigg wants to be timely, open and maybe even a little creative in his new position.Â
Rowan Childs, 44, wanted to fill her home with books for her own children to enjoy but knew not all children are able to have the same experience.Â
“I did find my passion," says Sally Zirbel-Donisch, "... it was working with not only students and families but staff and partners in the community."
In 1992, Kathy Kuntz enrolled in UW-Madison, expecting to earn a PhD in history, but it was a temp job as a receptionist at a nonprofit that led her into what would become a career in energy.
Michael Graf has written five screenplays: "Winter of Frozen Dreams," "The Last Indian War," "Throwing Hammers," "Venice of America" and "Picket Charlie," a just-finished environmental action picture tackling climate change.
A poll worker and volunteer interviewer for the Fire Department, Pranee Sheskey says she enjoys being part of making democracy work.
John Adams and Michael Moody founded the nonprofit Catalyst for Change in January 2020 to eliminate human suffering one life at a time by placing human dignity and development at the forefront of poverty, addiction and homelessness.
Harambee Village Doulas is trying to improve infant mortality, maternal health.
For more than two decades, the Droids Attack front man has refurbished games at his business Aftershock Retrogames. Now, he's looking to open an arcade bar.
Tiffany Olson owns 120 plants, a Willy Street greenhouse store and a loving Havanese named Mia.
Matt Reetz has spent years studying birds, doing postdoctoral research around the United States, Australia, the Caribbean and southern Chile.
Since 1962, the McCann family name led efforts to make sure Hilldale shopping center is clean and safe. Now Tom McCann has retired to fish, hunt turkeys and catch Dungeness crabs.
Tony Gomez-Phillips'Â prairie-inspired planting connects Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture with a garden style that embodies his views of nature and how it interacts with humans.
Out Health, run by Dr. Kathy Oriel, is in a former dentist's office on University Avenue.
Ken Fager turned pandemic boredom into a popular public art campaign of 3D-printed miniature state Capitols placed throughout Downtown.
Teresa Holmes became Madison Rotary Club president in July.
Sedric Morris is Madison School District's new director of safety and security. His wife, Yolanda Shelton-Morris, is community resources manager in the city's Community Development Division.
This month, Magney announced he will be departing from the WEC to join VoteRiders, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization with the goal of ensuring that voter ID laws don't prevent qualified citizens from voting.
Omar Anguiano, founder of La Barra 608, cheers on his team and his group's community service mission.
American Family Children's Hospital's first facility dog was trained in Georgia and likes snuggling and Goldfish crackers.
After graduating from Memorial High School in 2015, Peterson-Weber, 23, spent three years as an undergrad at UW-Madison before joining the university's School of Pharmacy in 2018.
Tamara Bryant and her family are heavily involved in Madison's cross-country skiing community.Â
Darren Marsh, who had served as the parks department's director since 2003, may well have a story for every recreational acre in Dane County, which is probably why it's difficult for him to pick a favorite park, stream or trail.
The UW Board of Regents is poised to have its tuition-setting authority soon restored for the first time in eight years under the state budget forwarded to Gov. Tony Evers.
Converted from compounds found in hemp, delta-8 THC — a chemical cousin to the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana — is booming but also concerns about lack of regulation.
Of the 31 online teaching requests UW-Madison has received, about half have been granted or the university has offered some other accommodation.
Meredith Mast focuses on teaching 3- to 9-year-olds classical ballet fundamentals and technique.
UW-Madison joins a number of colleges across the country reporting record returns because of the soaring stock market.
Dan Brown envisions Madison as a tourist destination for Ho-Chunk history and culture in the same way America's Southwest is synonymous with Navajo Nation.Â
Gary Grossen grew up working for his family's cheese factory and now works for the university's Center for Dairy Research.
Additional charges against Chandler Halderson are expected now that his mother, Krista Halderson, is confirmed dead.
People say some funny stuff too like, "that takes balls" or "do five next time."
A nonstop creative, she believes art can educate.Â
The former sheriff's deputy and mail carrier logged more than 250 volunteer hours last year on the tiny state natural area off Highway 12.
For the past two decades John Greenler's work has focused on the risks of climate change and the efforts to solve it.
