iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/10/2026

I swear to pudding this kind of "neutrality demands we say nothing at all about this" headline feels better to Wisconsin's political journalists than clean dry cushy socks on a cold rainy day 😏

Screenshot of social media share saying
Urban Milwaukee

@urbanmilwaukee.com@bsky

Tiffany, Crowley Split On How To Fix Wisconsin’s Wildlife Funding Gap

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 20/09/2026

“Prevent sex and maybe you’ll also prevent robbery, bullying, and homicide” [ castle at a loss for words dot gif ] www.wired.com/story/meet-the-academ…

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/09/2026

Galaxy Quest is a dramatically less extreme parody of Star Trek than The Search for Spock movie is 🐳

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/09/2026

Your own, personal, cat-bus Transit with stripey furs Transit who purrs Your own, personal, cat-bus Someone with fluffy hairs Flies through the airs Riding alone, ETA unknown Flesh and bone, yet I'm your ride home Pick up the cat litter, I'll make you a […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/08/2026

When I say "defund the police" I entirely and forthrightly do mean "reduce their budget to zero" With or without that, a lot of other spending must go up in a just world, but my "defund" abolitionism doesn't _require_ some better mechanism of doing the […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/08/2026

I'm at the very nice cafe's very nice patio seating outside at a cancer* center having pasta and a salad† 🍝🥗 Every single conversation and phone call I've overheard during lunch is about insurance and authorizations and payment Every. Single. One Just a […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

The portion of a patio where nobody is sitting, some tables and grey brick with plants and grass, and a big glass walled building to the left. The grass beside me smells nice 🙂

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/08/2026

Like, at some point one has to accept that confused nice white progressive homeowners aren't confused at all, they just want to get back to not being on the hook, and they are fine with the warm violence that takes if it means they can drive straight on the […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Sidewalk art saying on a ribbon "Hold Society Accountable For Allowing Killer Cops"

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/08/2026

Is it perhaps a testament to the effective work of folks around here organizing against Automated Licence Plate Reader (ALPR) and other unwarranted surveillance that this Flock copaganda guide has #Madison #Wisconsin on the cover?

A Flock guide on how police should represent the interests of their vendor against the democratic will and representatives of the people they putatively serve titled

How to Speak to City Councils About Public Safety Technology
Building Trust, Demonstrating Accountability, and Preparing for Tough Questions

It has a photo of Wisconsin's capitol building viewed looking up North Hamilton St with golden hour sunset illuminating the summer scene. It's a very pretty picture

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/07/2026

Progress against unwarranted surveillance! 🤠 “Stoughton City Council voted UNANIMOUSLY [last night, Tuesday July 28th] to cancel the Flock contract and disable/remove the cameras within 48 hours” “They also sent the People’s Resolution to committee to […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

SUCCESS!

Stoughton City Council voted unanimously to:

CANCEL the Flock contract ASAP

DISABLE the cameras within 48 hours

PAUSE any new surveillance contracts

CREATE a system for meaningful public input and oversight

THANK YOU to everyone who spoke out against the use of Al mass surveillance. Together we are proving that real strength in numbers comes from the people!

THE WORK ISN'T OVER. EMAIL US TO GET INVOLVED:

UnFlockStoughton@protonmail.com

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/07/2026

The Stoughton, WI City Council will meet THIS Tuesday July 28, 7pm at 321 S. Fourth Street over its mayor’s proposed Flock resolution Community members have put forth a better one — the People’s Resolution — and and will advocate for it Tuesday. Please […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Flyer for the People's Resolution

UNFLOCK STOUGHTON!

No mass surveillance without mass consent

The mayor's proposed Flock resolution fails to address the concerns of our community. We call on City Council to adopt the People's Resolution.

THE PEOPLE'S RESOLUTION...

TERMINATES the Flock contract by any legally available methods within two weeks

POWERS DOWN, disconnects, and covers the cameras to ensure they are incapable of collecting or transmitting information within 48 hours

CLOSES the loophole that would allow the Police to simply replace Flock with a different vendor

ENSURES civilian input and oversight before the City or Police can consider any Al-enhanced mass surveillance technology in the future

While the mayor's resolution...

Would terminate the Flock contract, but with NO specified deadline or timeline

Would disable the cameras

Would NOT close the loophole allowing Police to replace Flock with a different vendor

Would NOT ensure civilian input and oversight for Al-enhanced mass surveillance technology in the future

READ THEM & COMPARE

Ask City Council to support the PEOPLE'S RESOLUTION council@cityofstoughton.com

Email us to learn more & get involved: UnFlockStoughton@protonmail.com

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 24/07/2026

“To ensure the safety of the public, the current closure of Williamson Street, from S Dickinson Street to S Few Street, will remain until future determinations can be made” “We are asking the public to use other routes and remain cautious of pedestrians when […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A demonstrator erected barricade of pallets and boards arranged around a neat row of city issued trash bins on South Baldwin St, looking South from Willy

One board says "scared cops shoot people" in orange spray paint

Behind it are two city salt spreading trucks, a pattern replicated a block out from the Willy St and Baldwin corner held by the demonstration in other directions

A map snapshot showing in red streets closed spreading out from the intersection of Baldwin and Willy St

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 19/07/2026

This is a seductive possibility. This being the idea — despite getting beat down and dragged into the abyss in which it's currently in free fall — that really real America has a historic opportunity to crush the reactionary power of Christian patriarchal […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/07/2026

With regret I must inform you that his Pixel is not, in fact, “getting even better” 😔

System update available screenshot

* Your Pixel is getting even better * with the latest features and enhancements along with Android 17

Light text on a dark brown background with a little download to phone icon at top

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/07/2026

These maps of #wisconsin's statewide hazardous air put a whole new spin on "purple state" 😏

Wisconsin map covered in hazardous to breath pm2.5 AQI values on maroon (dark purple) dots

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 14/07/2026

Heat index, 98°F and rising 🌡️ Snuggle index one million degrees 💖

A picture from roughly my point of view of big floofy orange tabby Josh 🦁 on my lap helping keep me warm with his head on my belly reaching his paw up towards me and staring up at me

I'm wearing a peach-pink button down shirt but not otherwise much visible in the photo

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/07/2026

About all those negative economic 'vibes' from us ignorant wretches with flat screen TVs! and microwaves! who clearly clearly just don't understand how fuckin' great America's economy is because like the economic indicators that correlated with happiness in […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

By 2010, the "average" American household could afford less than 80% of average consumption from labor income alone. That's not a full, normal, American life, but a substandard life, a lifestyle of losers. In the current era, a household needs either property wealth and income or someone with an extraordinary job to support full, normal lives. A household of people with average jobs and no other income now affords less than 75% of average consumption.

A simple interpretation of the graph is that until 1982, the "average" American household could afford more than 90% of average consumption out of labor income alone. You didn't need hereditary asset wealth, some accumulated chunk of savings, to lead an average life. You could just get a fucking job — an average fucking job, not some amazing "career" position you sucked dicks your whole life to qualify for — and your family could live something close to a full, normal American life with your head held high.

A FRED graph of cumulative total US "compensation of employees, received" divided by "Personal Consumption Expenditures”

This shows the overall profit and loss on everyone everywhere having a fuckin job and it peaks around meeting 95% of expenses around 1970, and declines below 75% today with a sharpening downtrend at the end after a sharp not so little peak during the early pandemic payroll income supports that could be labeled "the only vaguely good wage and hour subsidy policy during this the 21st century"

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/07/2026

“Wisconsin families are being crushed by childcare costs — if they can find a spot at all. 48,000 kids are on waiting lists. 70% of rural Wisconsin is a “child care desert.” And the workers who care for our children are paid poverty wages. Meanwhile […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Picture of Francesca Hong listening to something in a legislative committee session above some statistics

Wisconsin’s Child Care Crisis

$12,000+ Average annual cost of Wisconsin infant care — more than a year’s tuition at UW-Madison

48,000 Wisconsin children on waiting lists for child care

70% of rural Wisconsin is a “child care desert” — 3+ kids for every 1 licensed slot

36% of single-parent families’ income spent on child care (should be no more than 7%)

$13 Median hourly wage for Wisconsin child care workers

26% drop in child care workers since 2010 — because they can’t afford to stay in the profession

Free or reduced childcare for families
Most Wisconsin families will pay absolutely no out-of-pocket costs for childcare. Families who make more money will see their spending capped on a sliding scale, hitting a maximum of the federal affordability standard of 7% (or lower, depending on the true cost of care).

Pay child care workers what they deserve
You can’t have universal child care if workers are fleeing the profession. Fran’s model includes increased reimbursement rates to providers and loan forgiveness programs for early childhood educators. We need to treat child care workers like the professionals they are.

Keep childcare centers open
Taking care of kids is expensive! Childcare centers exist on barebones margins and struggle to stay afloat. Fran’s universal childcare policy pegs payments to the true cost of care, because we can’t afford to shortchange our children.

Expand supply in child care deserts
70% of rural Wisconsin has nowhere near enough child care slots. Fran will invest in expanding capacity where it’s needed most — not just in cities, but in the small towns and rural communities where the shortage is most severe.

Save the Child CAre Counts program
The Child Care Counts program kept providers afloat and tuition down for families. Republicans stripped $480 million from the budget that would have continued it. On June 30, that funding expired. Fran is fighting to restore this funding and make it permanent.

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/06/2026

“All [Tue, August 11 Wisconsin Democratic Primary for Governor] candidates are in favor of reversing Act 10. All are in favor of creating stronger protections for unions against union-busting activities and ending “Right to Work” laws” “However, Mandela […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Mandela Barnes further comments

“Companies that don’t pay a living wage, they don’t deserve tax breaks. Those companies that interfere with union organizing or make it more difficult for union people, or excuse me, any working person, whether you’re in a union or not, to be paid a fair wage and receive benefits that you deserve for that hard work, they don’t deserve tax breaks and incentives either,” Barnes said.

Francesca Hong's further comments

Hong wants to enshrine laws in Wisconsin’s Constitution that would make it impossible for anything like Act 10 to ever happen again.

“I think the state cannot be afraid to regulate,” Hong said. “I think it’s been a word that often gets weaponized, but it’s actually one that I think for workers can be powerful.”

Kelda Roys' further comments

Roys would like to expand Wisconsin’s own ability to go after companies engaged in union-busting activity and not solely rely on the National Labor Relations Board.

“We are going to vest power with our attorney general to go after union-busting tactics so that they can’t get away with the kinds of abusive, illegal practices that were par for the course,” Roys said.

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/06/2026

Josh 🦁 is nervous af from two days of storms which have had him and his sibs slinking around from under furniture to under furniture a lot of the time, but he just came out and demanded I sit for him, then climbed aboard for a full complement of put that […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A very cute floofy ginger tabby cat named Josh 🦁 is somewhat bravely sitting on my stomach, looking all flat-eared nervous, with a wide black pupils concerned look to his eyes, and a general seeking reassurance posture. He has his paw extending towards me on my chest

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/06/2026

We added some playful friends to our Francesca Hong for Governor yard sign 🐾 #cats #wisconsin

Francesca Hong for Governor yard sign, but with two glowing cats playing along its top edge

The white and blue plastic sign is photographed at night against a very dark lawn background, and the playing cat silhouettes are glowing because they are metal and reflecting more light at the camera than the sign is

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/05/2026

Middleton Wisconsin - Bike Wash Fundraiser Today, 3-5pm Is your bike dirty? Is your neighbor's bike dirty? Let Middleton MTB wash your bike!!! Stop by the Capital Brewery Beer Garden on Saturday, May 30 between 3 and 5 pm. Suggested donation is $10 per […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Bike Wash Fundraiser Poster

Get your ride sparkling clean and help support Middleton MTB in getting more kids excited about mountain biking!

When: Saturday May 30th
Time: 3:09 - 5:00 PM
Where: Capital Brewery - 7734 Terrace Ave Middleton WI 53562

Suggested Donation $10 per bike wash

By Middleton MTB

It's a blue poster with checkered patterns in the corner and a sort of "WOW!" comic book style to the texts, with a bike silhouette at the bottom and some bike tire tread tracks across two corners

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/05/2026

There really has been an awful lot of this stuff this spring

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/05/2026

The Francesca Hong for Governor (of Wisconsin) new campaign office in Madison now has yard signs 🪧

A Francesca Hong for Governor sign planted in an otherwise empty garden bed on the terrace in front of a brick house on a bright sunny day

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/05/2026

DeFlock is calling for a National Week of Action Against Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) from August 16 thru 22 of 2026 👀🐦 The goal is to focus national attention and build on the increasing political momentum against Flock, who are terrible, to […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 23/04/2026

A rather fascinating story about Flock police surveillance winning elected support over agitated rabbles' objections and then losing it because they suck — like some bunch of too-confident conniving Disney villains convinced they are the real victims here — […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A captured anime frame of a young white woman with blond hair in a pink hoodie in what appears to be a school hallway pointing dramatically at someone out of frame while declaring "This is why you suck!"

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/04/2026

@Andres4NY totally! Centipedes get it done (and to some extent, so do Democrats, albeit not when the reactionaries in the center are setting the agenda) And when centipedes get out of line, we have three cats. And the cats are really dedicated to keeping […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Three cats are on a rug surrounding a toy and playing with it. The toy is not literally a centipede, it's a race with a ball that rolls around in it. it's just that I don't have a picture of them playing with a centipede. But they do. I've rescued a lot of centipedes from them.

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/04/2026

a bummer really, cuz i would prefer to

One does not simply meme from lord of the rings but it reads "one does not morally walk out of Omelas"

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/04/2026

I'm excited about this tiny lil feature!

A screen of colorized JavaScript code showing an event handler that allows for a track based audio player to stop a player on content.finished events if the stopAfterCurrentTrack flag is set

All that code follows this line

trackFinished: observer('content.finished', function() {
const track = this.get('content');
if (get(track, 'finished')) {
if (get(track, 'islastTrack') || this.get('stopAfterCurrentTrack')) {
set(track, 'playing', false);
this.set('stopAfterCurrentTrack', false);
// set(this, 'content', null);
} else {
this.play(get(track, 'nextTrack'));
}
}
set(track, 'finished', false);
}),

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/04/2026

“reflections on utopia over dystopia”

A view through reflections on a store window out into dim twilight where an absolute beast of a utility vehicle, an Urban Arrow cargo bicycle, is loaded with big red paniers and full of large black boxes.

It's parked on the sidewalk of Hilldale, an outdoor shopping mall.

Behind the bike on the mall's central street is a very silly Tesla electric truck. A sweetgreen store is visible in the background.

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/03/2026

I don't hate my lil bitty ego lectric sno blo toy right now - got things cleared enough to get the Urban Arrow out to the (already plowed!) street...just in time to have the clinic cancel the appointment So I rode out anyway to get coffee filters just to make it all feel worthwhile 😄

A man in a ho visibility shell with goggles on is leaning forward to push a tiny snow blower through snow a little deeper than it is, with a big plume of snow blowing out of it at a tree

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/03/2026

Another manic Monday, wish it were Sunday, etc

A view through a very snow splotched window at a snow covered arbor vita evergreen tree in front of a snow covered car on a snow covered street with a park full of leafless winter trees behind that. It has snowed a bunch, is what I'm saying.

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/03/2026

Chris Taylor, the good choice in the [Tuesday, April 7, 2026] Wisconsin Supreme Court election, has promised to protect ballot access in the state “We cannot be fatigued when it comes to democracy” she told @bolts Taylor, a Democrat, is serious about […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Chris Taylor, a white woman with long grown hair wearing a peach colored blazer, sits behind a paneled committee bench in a legislative hearing.

She's gesturing with her hands and has a kind of earnest "come on people let's get real here" expression on her face.

In front of her next to her Representative Taylor nameplate sits a rubber duck she was using to illustrate a point. The word "Rotten" is written on the rubber duck.

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/03/2026

“[Renée Graef's] first two drafts of her Isthmus cover showed a Minneapolis-centric vigil, and a scene depicting Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pepper spraying the classic Statue of Liberty scene on Lake Mendota” “she pivoted to a […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

March ISTHMUS cover illustration of a light brown skinned femme resenting person with long straight black hair crossing a Madison, WI State St style of pedestrian mall

They are carrying a copy of Orwell's 1984 under their arm

The shops and utility poles on the street are festooned with an absurd number of cameras, drones fill the sky, and even other passersby are pointing phone cameras at them - some of them looking a bit sketchy all in black with sunglasses

There's a 2026 Wisconsin Film Festival (April 09 to 16) promo banner across the bottom of the image

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/03/2026

“Dorothea Salo the awesome [@dsalo here en la fedi ] a cybersecurity expert and UW-Madison professor, says Dane County’s data sharing agreements add another layer of concern” » “They can’t promise that [data won’t be used for immigration enforcement] if […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Screenshot of Isthmus article headlined: Does ICE have access to Flock data?

The Dane County Sheriff’s Office has shared data from 25 cameras with seven states

by Liam Beran
March 5, 2026
12:00 PM

Picture is of a Flock camera and its characteristic solar panel attached by metal straps to a metal utility pole, silhouetted against a pale blue sky with what appears to be an out of focus American flag in the background, obscured by the camera (along with the civil liberties it supposedly represents)

Pie chart of Reasons for Flock network searches by Dane County Sheriffs, Jan 25 to Feb 22

Unspecified attempts to locate by sheriff's department - 58.4%

Attempt to locate person of interest, witness, suspect at request of another agency - 22.4%

Stolen auto - 5.6%

Theft - 4.4%

Hit & run - 2.8%

Burglary -2.8%

Wanted/warrant - 1.6%

Missing person - 0.8%

Suicidal person – 0.4%

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/03/2026

😎 It was 60°F and sunny yesterday and now I'm going to go shovel my sidewalk ☃️

Photo of a snowy street and park full of leafless oak trees behind it, upon which snow is falling. It's a view from a high window, with a snowy evergreen in the left foreground

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 20/02/2026

Holy Forking Shirtballs Francesca Hong is on the cover of Time magazine for her work to rein in crappy antidemocratic sweetheart deals for data center development in #Wisconsin Her straightforward, clear, and popular positions on this — like her positions on […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Time magazine screenshot

Francesca Hong, an Asian woman, stands in a long red coat, on the broad paved walk before the south entrance of thr Wisconsin State Capitol building in the background. She's looking confidently at the camera.

Text from article reads
“Hong, 37, doesn’t come from a tech background. Born and raised in Madison by immigrant parents, she has worked as a bartender, a line cook, a baker, and the chef and co-owner of the (now closed) Madison restaurant Morris Ramen. Over the course of the COVID pandemic, Hong became a leader in the local restaurant industry, fighting for emergency unemployment benefits.”

Photo credit: Benedict Evans for TIME

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Preston Austin @gl33p.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/02/2026

“Noel, who has been in this country legally for decades, was picked up at O'Hare recently when returning from a trip to Mexico and is being held in Indiana by ICE. His lawyers are working to get him released but as of yet have not made that happen” “Ofelia […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Social media post reading:

Noel Quintana and his wife Ofelia Garcia-Anchondo, owners of Señor Machetes restaurant on E. Main here in Madison since 2019, live downtown on S. Henry St. and have hosted the downtown neighborhood association holiday party for the last couple of years.

Noel, who has been in this country legally for decades, was picked up at O'Hare recently when returning from a trip to Mexico and is being held in Indiana by ICE. His lawyers are working to get him released but as of yet have not made that happen.

Ofelia is hoping that friends and neighbors can help her through this rough emotional and financial crisis and will be hosting a fundraiser upstairs at the restaurant this Friday afternoon/evening There will be food and drink, snacks and dinner. Please come and support our downtown neighbors.

2/13 4:309pm
Senor Machetes
121 E. Main St.

Friday, February 13
4:30 til 9:00
SEÑOR MACHETES
MEXICAN GRILL

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