Dear Friends,

First, I want to invite all of you to attend the 20th Dane County Alzheimer’s Walk Saturday, Sept. 29, at the Warner Park Shelter. It is a beautiful walk that supports thousands of persons with dementia and their families right here in Dane County, as 100 percent of the dollars stay local. Go to alzwisc.org for more information and to sign up or call 232-3400.

Now that spring elections have occurred, I have been reappointed to the Public Protection and Judiciary Committee by County Board Chair Sharon Corrigan. I look forward to this challenging work as we work toward reform of the overall criminal justice system in Dane County.

I had the pleasure of attending the Clean Lakes Alliance Save Our Lakes breakfast presentation where we learned all about ongoing projects to enhance lake water quality. Further recommendations will be coming soon from the Healthy Lakes Task Force. One pound of phosphorus going into the lake equals 500 pounds of algae, so it continues to be crucial to keep leaves out of the storm sewer system while adding rain gardens and rain barrels. More information on “suck the muck,” manure digesters and other initiatives can be found at cleanlakesalliance.org.

We also learned that there were 26 design entries to change the look of Warner Beach. The winner is called the Living Edge from MSR Design in Minneapolis that creates a biological shoreline to enhance water quality, including an underground viewing gallery for community education. This is a very elaborate concept to say the least! This contest was sponsored by the Madison Community Foundation.

Supervisor Rusk can be reached at 249-9667 or rusk@countyofdane.com.