Morning Headlines - Thursday, Apr. 28, 2022

U.S. and World Headlines

California, New York, Illinois Used Covid-19 Relief Funds To Push CRT In Schools

The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, which the Democrats passed in March 2021 without any Republican support, was billed by the Democratic Party as a necessity for reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the law provided over $122 billion for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER), which helped multiple states implement "implicit bias" and "anti-racism" training, among other programs, according to research from One Nation shared with and verified by Fox News Digital.

Republicans Target Pause On Student Loan Payments

Republicans are pushing back against letting student loan borrowers off the hook — even temporarily — as the White House is eyeing broader student loan debt cancellation. The Biden administration this month extended the pause on repayment that began at the beginning of the pandemic to August 31.

In a bill introduced Wednesday, a group of five GOP lawmakers moved to end President Biden's ability to keep extending the federal student loan payment pause.

What Musk's Free-Speech Twitter Could Unleash

Elon Musk's pledge to allow any speech on Twitter that doesn't break the law would open the door to a pandemonium of objectionable and harmful content — from gory videos to efforts to mislead voters to promotions of phony COVID cures.

Even much smaller social networks that aimed to minimize content moderation have found that an "anything goes if it's legal" policy quickly devolves into a miasma of violence, spam, fraud and bullying.

Could Elon Musk Buy Coca-cola? Here's How Much It Is Worth

After his stunning $44 billion bid to buy Twitter was unexpectedly accepted this week, Elon Musk jokingly announced his next takeover: Coca-Cola.

Talking to his 87.1 million followers on Twitter on Thursday, the billionaire said he will buy Coca-Cola next, "to put the cocaine back in."

What Can Special Elections So Far Tell Us About The 2022 Midterms?

At this point in the cycle, special elections are one of the main indicators we have for understanding what the midterm election environment might look like. If a party consistently outperforms its typical margins in these irregularly scheduled elections — like Democrats did in 2017 and early 2018 — it is usually a sign that the political environment is leaning in its direction.

This cycle’s special elections aren’t pointing in as obvious a direction as those of the last midterm cycle. But that could be changing, as Republicans recently had a particularly strong special election performance in California.

Wisconsin Headlines

Lily Peters Killing: Judge Sets $1M Bond For 14-Year-Old Suspect Charged As Adult In Girl's Shocking Death

Wisconsin 10-year-old Lily Peters was sexually assaulted after her strangling death at the hands of a boy four years her senior earlier this week, prosecutors revealed in a harrowing bond hearing Wednesday afternoon.

The 14-year-old suspect has been charged as an adult. Judge Benjamin Lane agreed to prosecutors' request to set bond at $1 million and ordered the defendant to avoid contact with minors, except his siblings, so long as such contact is supervised.

Gableman’s Office To Remain Open As He Fights Lawsuits Challenging Election Probe Subpoenas

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Michael Gableman’s office will remain open as the former justice fights lawsuits challenging his subpoena powers in a review of the 2020 election.

The statement came a day after Donald Trump called for the probe to continue and Gableman appealed to the Rochester Republican to keep his Brookfield office open. The former justice wrote in a letter obtained by WisPolitics.com that closing the office would “render pointless and a waste of taxpayer money the entire investigation.”

MU Poll Shows Tightening Primary For Dems In US Senate, Steady Numbers In GOP Primary For Governor

The possible winner of the Democrat primary for a US Senate seat is still up in the air, according to the Marquette Law School Poll.

Poll director Charles Franklin says two candidates remain in the lead. “We have Mandela Barnes at 19%, Alex Lasry at 16%, Sarah, Godlewski at 7%, and Tom Nelson at 5%. And the other seven candidates we asked about all at 1% or less.”

But 48 percent of Democrats still say they don’t have a candidate or didn’t know enough to make a decision just yet. 

Despite Fears, Teacher Retirements Were Down Last Year In Wisconsin

Wisconsin teacher retirements dropped 17 percent last school year from the year before, according to data from the state Employee Trust Fund.

During the 2019-20 school year, 5,158 teachers retired — a spike unseen since at least 2018. But this past school year — 2020-21 — only 4,271 teachers retired. That’s despite worries that Wisconsin would lose even more teachers, worsening the teacher shortage that existed even before the pandemic began.

Bucks Rout Bulls 116-100 In Game 5, Advance To Face Celtics

The defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks continue to produce in the postseason even without key performers. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 33 points and nine rebounds and the Bucks routed the Bulls 116-100 on Wednesday night to finish off their first-round series in five games.