Morning Headlines - Friday, May 31, 2024 | Recent News

U.S. and World Headlines

Trump Guilty In "Hush Money" Trial As Jury Hands Down Historic Verdict

Former President Donald Trump was found guilty of 34 felonies by the jury in his "hush money" trial in New York on Thursday, making him the first former president in U.S. history to be convicted of a crime.

The jury, composed of 12 Manhattan residents, found that Trump illegally falsified business records to cover up a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. They found him guilty on all counts on their second day of deliberations.

Trump Conviction Heralds A Somber And Volatile Moment In American History

Donald Trump’s first act on becoming a convicted criminal was to launch a raging new attack on the rule of law, laying bare the gravity of the choice awaiting America’s voters.

In one sense, Trump’s conviction on all counts in his first criminal trial affirmed the principle on which the United States is founded — that everyone is equal and that no one, not even a billionaire and former and possibly future president, enjoys impunity.

But Trump’s authoritarian outburst minutes after the guilty verdict in New York and a race by top Republicans to join his assault on the justice system underscore how threatened those bedrock values now are.

Trump Verdict Throws Election Into Uncharted Territory

Former President Trump’s guilty verdict in his New York City hush-money trial is throwing the presidential election into uncertain territory as Republicans and Democrats grapple with how to move forward in the wake of the historic development.

Reactions to the verdict from both sides of the aisle poured in on Thursday, with Trump immediately fundraising off the announcement, while the Biden campaign proclaimed the trial’s outcome proves that “no one is above the law.”The Trump campaign’s donation page even briefly crashed in the moments after the decision was handed down.

Police Officer Dies After Being 'Ambushed' While Responding To Minneapolis Shooting Call: Officials

A Minneapolis police officer has died after they were "ambushed" while responding to a call about a shooting, officials said Thursday night.

Officers from the Minneapolis Police Department responded to reports of a double shooting on the 2200 block of Blaisdell Ave. S., earlier Thursday, the department's assistant chief of operations, Katie Blackwell, told the media. Upon arriving, the officers immediately received gunfire and exchanged gunfire, she said.

The Addiction Crisis Is Even Worse Than Headlines Can Convey

Everyone knows the country's addiction crisis is bad, but even the direst headlines just barely scratch the surface.

We spend a lot of time talking about drug overdose deaths, which each year are nearly double the number of Americans killed in the Vietnam War. But overdose deaths are only one measure of the drug epidemic's severity — and even the formal toll doesn't capture the true extent of drugs' lethal power, experts say.

DPI Threatens To Withhold MPS Aid Payments Over Late Reports

DPI is threatening to withhold state aid payments from Milwaukee Public Schools because the district has failed to file statutorily required fiscal reports.

Two of the reports were due eight months ago, and the district is in danger of missing out on a $15.7 million special education aid payment next month, as well as a $200 million general aid payment. The Department of Public Instruction wrote in a letter Friday that some of the aid payments rely on data from one of the reports that was due in September.

Nearly Half Of Wisconsin Legislature Won’t Run In Old Districts As New Maps Shake Up State Politics

As the dust settles from the past year’s redistricting battles in Wisconsin, the state Legislature is undergoing a shakeup, with nearly half of all state lawmakers having announced they won’t run in their old districts.

All told, at least 61 members of the state Assembly and Senate won’t run again in their old districts. Of those, 41 are Republicans and 20 are Democrats.

In the Assembly alone, 40 representatives — more than a third of the chamber —have either filed to run for new seats in the Legislature or say they plan on it.

Wisconsin Politicians React To Trump’s Guilty Verdict

Guilty on all counts: that’s the landmark verdict handed down Thursday in the historic hush money trial of former President and presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

The responses have been pouring in from leaders on both sides of the aisle in reaction to Thursday’s verdict.

Leader Of Wisconsin National Guard Resigns

Governor Tony Evers announced Thursday that the current leader of the Wisconsin National Guard is resigning.

Major General Paul Knapp will be resigning on June 6th of this year.

Brigadier General David May will serve as interim general to replace Knapp for now.

Illinois Resident Charged With Online Crimes Aimed At Children

Gregory J. Haanstad, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on May 29, 2024, a federal grand jury returned] an indictment alleging that Terrence E. Fabino (age: 61) of Grayslake, Illinois, engaged in the attempted sexual exploitation of a minor and attempted transfer of obscene matters to a minor.

The indictment alleges that on November 20, 2023, Fabino “knowingly attempted to employ, use, persuade, induce, entice, and coerce a minor” to engage in sexually explicit conduct. It further alleges that on October 26, 2023, Fabino attempted to transfer obscene material to a minor under 16 years of age. Fabino faces a mandatory 15 years’ imprisonment and up to 30 years’ imprisonment if convicted of the enticement charge. He faces up to 10 years’ imprisonment if convicted of the transfer of obscenity charge.