Morning Headlines - Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023 | Recent News

U.S. and World Headlines

Las Vegas Shooting Suspect Was A Professor Who Recently Applied For A Job At UNLV

The man suspected of fatally shooting three people and wounding another at a Las Vegas university Wednesday was a professor who unsuccessfully sought a job at the school, a law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press.

The gunman was killed in a shootout with law enforcement, police said. The attack at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas sent shock waves through a city still scarred by the deaths of 60 people in a 2017 mass shooting.

The suspect previously worked at East Carolina University in North Carolina, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to release the information publicly.

5 Takeaways From The Heated GOP Debate In Alabama

Four Republican presidential candidates traded barbs Wednesday night during a fiery GOP debate as they looked to position themselves as the best alternative to Donald Trump in the primary.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) participated in the fourth primary debate in Tuscaloosa, Ala., which was hosted by The Hill’s sister organization NewsNation.

The debate, the last RNC-sanctioned one of the year, at times turned nasty, with Ramaswamy at one point comparing Haley’s campaign launch video to “a woke Dylan Mulvaney Bud Light ad” and Christie calling the entrepreneur an “obnoxious blowhard.”

The event also comes more than a month before the Iowa caucuses. All four candidates are still trailing Trump in national and early state polling, raising questions about whether a path can be cleared to take on the former president one-on-one.

Here are five takeaways from the fourth GOP debate:

Details Emerge About Hamas’ Sexual Violence On October 7

Simchat Greyman had to pause several times when describing the evidence of sexual violence he saw when recovering bodies of victims of the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel.

One body was so severely brutalized that he and his colleagues from ZAKA, the ultra-orthodox Jewish human remains recovery organization, couldn’t tell whether it was a man or a woman.

Greyman described finding a woman who was shot in the back of her head, lying on her bed, naked from her waist down. A live grenade was planted in her hand.

And then there was the body with the nails.

National Pearl Harbor Day Of Remembrance – December 7, 2023

A day of infamy, the day Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, is commemorated with the National Pearl Harbor Day of Remembrance each year on December 7. On that day in 1941, more than 2,400 people died in Japan’s attack on the Hawaiian base of America’s Pacific Fleet.

Hundreds of aircraft were destroyed or damaged, as were most of the ships in the harbor, and thousands of service men and women were killed or injured. It was an unprecedented surprise attack that precipitated the United States entry into WW II as we sided with the Allies and declared war on Japan.

Wind And Solar Pose Climate Threat Too, Oil Giant Saudi Arabia Argues

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia is urging nations to take action on what it suggests is a growing threat to the Earth’s climate — wind and solar power.

The pitch from the world’s biggest oil player includes a Saudi government document, obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News, expressing concern about the “lifecycle” greenhouse gas emissions of wind, solar and other renewable energy sources, whose popularity has grown as countries look for alternatives to planet-heating fossil fuels.

Sheboygan County DA Will Appeal Ruling To Permit Medical Abortions In Wisconsin

A Republican prosecutor said Dec. 6 that he plans to appeal a court ruling that Wisconsin law permits consensual medical abortions, the first step toward a potential showdown in the state Supreme Court over abortion rights.

Sheboygan County District Attorney Joel Urmanski issued a statement through his attorneys saying that he disagrees with Dane County Circuit Judge Diane Schlipper’s July finding and state law clearly bans abortions, including consensual medical abortions.

The case appears destined to end up at the state Supreme Court.

LeMahieu: Vos Working On Deal With Uw On Pay Raises, Release Of $32 Million, Funding Engineering Building

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu told WisPolitics Assembly Speaker Robin Vos is working on a deal with the Universities of Wisconsin that would allow pay raises to take effect, release $32 million in state funding and pave the way for a new engineering building in Madison.

A UW spokesperson told WisPolitics the discussions with Vos, R-Rochester, were broader than those three topics and are ongoing. The spokesperson said a deal wasn’t necessarily imminent.

A deal would mark a significant development in the strained relationship between Vos and the UW that has included a series of university priorities being blocked by lawmakers.

'This Is A Civil Legal Action': Political Science Professors Note Differences In Wisconsin's Fake Elector Scheme

Political science professors in Wisconsin are noting the differences between Wisconsin's fake elector scheme versus other states like Michigan, Georgia and now Nevada.

This comes as the 10 Wisconsin Republicans who posed as fake electors for former President Donald Trump admit President Joe Biden won the 2020 election.

Anthony Chergosky is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the UW-Lacrosse. He said a moment like this has been years in the making.

Legislators Respond To New Marijuana Decriminalization Bill

Wisconsin lawmakers are introducing legislation aiming to decriminalize marijuana in the state. Possession of up to 14 grams of marijuana would be decriminalized under the bill.

As it stands now, the penalty is up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1000. The new proposal would carry no jail time and drop the fine to between $100 and $250. That would actually increase fines in some areas - including Green Bay where it’s currently a $61 fine.

So far, the bill has gained mix responses.

Former Fugitive Sentenced In Odometer Tampering Scheme

Gregory J. Haanstad, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on December 5, 2023, a Mexican national was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin to 12 months and one day in prison for his role in a scheme to roll back odometers on used motor vehicles.

Israel Sanchez-Pulido, 41, of Mexico City, Mexico, pleaded guilty on September 6, 2023, to one count of odometer tampering, one count of making a false odometer statement, and one count of conspiracy.

As part of his plea agreement, Sanchez-Pulido admitted that, between 2009 and 2014, he purchased 146 high-mileage vehicles at Wisconsin auto auctions, rolled back the odometers, altered the mileage statements on the vehicle title paperwork, and then sold the vehicles with fraudulently low odometer readings to unsuspecting victims, who were primarily from Illinois.