Four beaches on Lake Monona and Tenney Beach on Lake Mendota were closed Wednesday because clouds of blue-green algae have left water unsafe for swimming.

Public Health Madison and Dane County notified the public of the closures on its Twitter account.

The afflicted Lake Monona ...

An explosion of the zebra mussel population in Lake Mendota this year could mean more foul-smelling shoreline slime and repeats of the major fish kill and vast bloom of toxic bacteria that hit Madison’s lakes already this summer, experts say.

Farm pollution is the main driver of this ...