Yes, it's true. This time it's me. This is the last Monday I'll be working in my office in Vilas Hall on the UW-Madison campus and Monday is the day I've been putting odd bits of behind the scenes updates on this blog. I must admit that even though heading into a life of leisure is appealing, I feel very sad to leave my large extended family here at Wisconsin Public Television. My first job here began in September of 1979 when I was in college. I was hired and trained to run a studio camera. Since then I've had the good fortune to be trained on-the-job for a whole range of jobs culminating in my work as a field producer for In Wisconsin and producer of some of the multi-camera remote music productions we do every year. It's been a career filled with challenges and a long list of very special people. Thanks to everyone at WPT for helping me experience such a rewarding career.

It's been a busy couple of weeks eventhough "In Wisconsin" hasn't been on the air. This week, we return to our regular Thursday at 7:30p time slot.

In Wisconsin Reporter Jo Garrett visits Milwaukee's Urban Ecology Center, a downtown oasis for birds migrating north. You will discover how this urban jewel has been reclaimed from drug dealers and criminals by birdwatchers and citizen scientists.

We also have a QUEST report by In Wisconsin Reporter Andy Soth as he looks at Wisconsin's first great scientist. Increase Lapham was a self-taught renaissance man who dabbled in botany, archaeology, forestry and climatology. Discover how his influence is still being felt in the state two hundred years after his birth.

You won't want to miss the teen musicians in the statewide Bolz Young Artist Competition. For several months, they have been auditioning but only four remained standing on the stage of Overture Hall in Madison. This week you'll meet cellist Elliott Yang of New Berlin. With the arrival of spring you can also discover a very urban section of Wisconsin's Ice Age National Scenic Trail in Janesville through the camera lens of videographer Mike Eicher.

In Wisconsin airs 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 24 on Wisconsin Public Television. The program also will air at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, March 27 on Milwaukee's MPTV and on WDSE-TV in Duluth at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 27.

This is a shout out to all the stagehands, proud union members all, that have worked to help Wisconsin Public Television at the Overture Center for the last five years. They've been pitching in to produce a joint Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Public Television program called Wisconsin Young Artists Compete: The Final Forte. This group of professionals have made every effort to make the whole process, from early on the start of the rehearsal day to late at the end of the performance day, go smoothly and look and sound great. We would have been lost without them.

Two of the masterminds are Gary Cleven (on the left) and Steve Schroeder. Great guys and great to work with.

Normally my posts are a quick peek behind the scenes of my work on In Wisconsin. This week, as in some previous posts, I'm largely focused on the production of Wisconsin Young Artists Compete: The Final Forte. This will be the fifth show in this annual series that I've had the pleasure to produce. It will also be the last as I'm retiring in a few months. It's somewhat of a bittersweet ending because it will be the first and last opportunity I will have to work in the new HD remote production truck which was years in the making. After suffering through the old truck components breaking down one by one over the years I will only have one shot at trying out all perfectly reliable new equipment that comes along with the package. I hope you have a chance to see and hear how this translates to television with our production of The Final Forte on March 28 at 8pm with a repeat April 2 at 3:30pm.

Some of you may have seen Wisconsin Public Television's coverage of Governor Walker's State of the Budget Address on Tuesday. Behind the scenes it was anything but business as usual. The extremely tight security at the Wisconsin State Capitol presented extra challenges for the production crew trying to bring cameras, lighting equipment and other gear into the second floor Assembly Parlor where we set up our mini studio. Each entry required passing through 2-3 checkpoints of security.

30 minutes before the Governor's speech thousands of noisy, angry protesters converged on the police barricade just outside the Assembly windows. That is also the exact spot where our director, producer and technical support team are working to bring you the live broadcast from our production truck.

In one ear we heard chants of "This is what democracy looks like" in the other ear "standby in 3, 2, 1. The viewers at home only saw the quality production they are accustomed to getting from Wisconsin Public Television... despite that it was one of the more bizarre, challenging – and perhaps memorable live productions we may ever encounter.

***in the category of full disclosure the employees of Wisconsin Public Television are state employees.

As I write this, high school students are marching past our building on their way to the capitol as part of the budget repair bill protests. Madison is a city famous for protests, but the likes of this haven't been seen in years.

National attention is being paid and it's always interesting to see how your community is seen. Many anchors on the cable news networks mention how the protesters have come out in the cold, not knowing we are in the midst of a thaw with temps in the forties.

Into the fray, our newest colleague Adam Schrager started work this week. Quite a time to start as a capitol reporter, but Adam has hit the ground running, already appearing on the PBS Newshour to tell a national audience what's happening here.

I'm sure Adam will always remember these last few days, and the way things are shaping up, we all will as well.

"Auspice" "A favorable sign.... From the Latin auspicium, a bird-watching divination from flight of birds"

Dictionary.com

Time to make a big flap over the upcoming "Our Birds", a documentary long in the making and big on birds. Auspice can also mean "one who watches birds" and that's the subject of this doc. We profile the work of dedicated folks in Wisconsin and Latin America who are working to save our migratory birds. I'll be passing along more information on this doc as we head toward the premiere in March. Till then, let this serve as an auspicious start.

Coming up this week on In Wisconsin is a story suggested to me by a friend. His name is Bob Kovar. He knew about it because he's been instrumental in making it happen. The story is about the new Tribal AmeriCorps program. For the first time the tribes in the state applied for and got an AmeriCorps grant to fund 13 workers on reservations. There have been AmeriCorps workers in Indian Country before but the idea this time was to have members of the community, who know the issues first hand, get to work providing solutions. Our story was shot in the Lac du Flambeau Public School where 3 AmeriCorps members are working to prevent substance abuse. One of the AmeriCorps members has also found a calling in life. She plans to work with youth after her year of service is complete.

Another busy week in the world of news and public affairs! Governor Scott Walker delivered his State of the State address. We're looking to the Budget Address for more specifics on spending cuts that get at the state budget deficit.

This week on "Here & Now" we talk with U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan who has just released his spending cut plan as chair of the House Budget Committee. We hear from Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen about his reaction to a federal judge's ruling this week that invalidated the Obama health care law and we hear the opposing viewpoint.

Also, we continue our interviews with candidates for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. This week, we talk with Joel Winnig. Finally, our singing commentator, Peter Leidy, puts the Super Bowl to song. "Here & Now," Friday night at 7:30 p.m. on Wisconsin Public Television.