Morning Headlines - Friday, Jan. 13, 2023

U.S. and World Headlines

AOC Fires Back At ‘Republican Meltdown’ Over Gas Stoves: ‘There Is Very Concerning Science’

New York Democratic Congresswoman and environmentalist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez again weighed in on the heated gas stove debate on Instagram Thursday.

"I do think it’s funny the absolute, utter Republican meltdown where they're like ‘you can take my gas stove from my cold dead hands,’ or, ‘how dare you talk about gas stoves, you have a gas stove.’"

Conservative commentator Matt Walsh joked Monday, "You will have to pry my gas stove from my cold dead hands" after it was revealed that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission was considering a ban on gas stoves, reportedly out of concern for the environment and people's personal health. 

Lisa Marie Presley, The Only Child Of Elvis, Dies At Age 54

Lisa Marie Presley has died after suffering a cardiac arrest at her home in Calabasas, Calif., on Thursday morning. The singer-songwriter, humanitarian, and only child of rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Elvis Presley was 20 days shy of her 55th birthday.

Lisa Marie was found unresponsive by her housekeeper on Thursday morning. Her ex-husband Danny Keough, with whom she lived, administered CPR until paramedics arrived. After her pulse was restored, she was taken to a nearby Intensive Care Unit and placed on life support, in an induced coma, with a temporary pacemaker. According to TMZ’s sources, Lisa Marie had complained of stomach pains earlier Thursday morning, and her death was not a suicide. Lisa Marie's father and paternal grandmother also both died from heart attacks at young ages, respectively at 42 and 46.

Transgender Youth Health Care Bans Have A New Target: Adults

Lawmakers in at least three states this year have filed legislation meant to restrict access to gender-affirming health care for individuals as old as 26, an escalation of a battle waged nationwide last year over whether children should be able to access certain prescription medications and procedures.

Bills filed this year in Oklahoma, South Carolina and Virginia aim to bar state health care providers from recommending or administering treatments like puberty blockers, hormones and gender-affirming surgeries to patients younger than 21, signaling an aggravation in the fight over transgender health care.

Special Counsel Named To Investigate Biden Classified Records That Included Top Secret Document

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Thursday he was appointing Robert Hur to serve as a special counsel to review classified material found in President Joe Biden's Delaware residence and a Washington office he used.

Hur, now a lawyer at a Washington, D.C., firm, was the U.S. Attorney for Maryland during the Trump administration, and is also the former principal counselor to former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversaw the Mueller investigation.

Garland said Hur’s appointment “authorizes him to investigate whether any person or entity violated the law in connection with this matter."

Biden's Sudden Centrist Push On Immigration

President Biden has found recent support from border Democrats for what they view as a new public strategy on immigration.

The administration deployed a White House address and a visit to El Paso, all while House Republicans readied for investigations into the administration's handling of the border.

• "I think on this issue, he is shifting to where a lot of us have been wanting him to go. He has shifted to the center," Rep. Henry Cuellar, a moderate border Democrat from Texas, told Axios following his trip to the El Paso border with Biden.
• Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), who also accompanied the president to the border in her district, agreed last week signaled a shift in strategy.
• Escobar told Axios she thinks it is the right approach and that some of her more concerned colleagues are coming around.

Immigration has long been a political minefield — and the administration has struggled to politically address the record numbers of border crossings.

Wisconsin Headlines

Wisconsin Republicans Block 'Conversion Therapy' Ban Again

Wisconsin Republicans voted to again allow therapists, social workers and counselors to try to change LGBTQ clients' gender identities and sexual orientations — a discredited practice known as conversion therapy.

A ban on conversion therapy was passed in 2020 by a state board within the Democratic governor's administration overseeing licensing for mental health professionals. But a committee in the Republican-controlled Legislature temporarily blocked the ban then and did so again on Jan. 12, with all six Republican members voting to block it and the four Democrats voting to keep it in place.

Evers Appoints Fifth Pick To Seven-Member DNR Board

Gov. Tony Evers has appointed dairy farmer Paul Buhr to the Natural Resources Board, giving him five picks on the seven-member body.

Bill Bruins’ early resignation came a week after Wausau dentist Fred Prehn, another appointee of GOP Gov. Scott Walker, resigned in December after refusing to step down once his appointment expired in May 2021. Prehn’s continued service kept the board controlled 4-3 by Walker appointees.

Now, in less than three weeks, it has flipped to a 5-2 Evers majority.

Bill Would Eliminate Taxes On Residential Electricity And Natural Gas

State Senator Andre Jacque (R-De Pere) and Representative David Murphy (R-Greenville) have teamed up to introduce a new bill to eliminate the sales and use tax on residential electricity and natural gas.

The lawmakers issued a joint statement on the bill, noting that “Wisconsin’s average residential energy rates are significantly higher than the Midwest and US averages.”

Why Wisconsin Courts Need More Prosecutors, Public Defenders

"It's really a problem that has reached a constitutional crisis from both perspectives," said Judge Guy Dutcher who presides over criminal cases in Waushara County.

State officials are warning of potential miscarriages of justice as Wisconsin faces a shortage of both public defenders and prosecutors.

"If you go to some of these counties like Waushara County or Shawano, it's anywhere from 50% of their prosecution staff that are vacant — in one county right now, it's 100% prosecution staff vacancy," said Kurt Klomberg, the district attorney for Dodge County, where he said staff shortages have been exacerbated by a lack of quality candidates.

Methamphetamine Trafficker Sentenced To 5 Years

Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Kou Yang, 27, Wausau, Wisconsin, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 5 years in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, for distributing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. Yang pleaded guilty to this charge on October 5, 2022.

In August 2021, an undercover police officer bought large quantities of methamphetamine from Yang on two separate occasions. After Yang’s arrest, he admitted to purchasing half pound and pound quantities of methamphetamine from local methamphetamine dealers for later distribution to customers.