Morning Headlines - Thursday, Jul. 6, 2023 | Recent News

U.S. and World Headlines

Justice Department Had Video Of Boxes Being Moved At Mar-A-Lago Before FBI Search, Unredacted Document Shows

The Justice Department has made public more about the significant photographic and video evidence they collected last summer from Mar-a-Lago after the Trump presidency, in a newly released version of the investigative record that supported the FBI search of the resort.

While the details match much of what was included in last month’s indictment of Donald Trump and his co-defendant Walt Nauta, the less-redacted search warrant affidavit reveals the extent of what prosecutors knew before asking to search the Florida property for documents or other evidence last summer.

The search affidavit, which still has several pages of redactions, describes with more public detail what prosecutors could see on spring 2022 surveillance footage from multiple angles outside a basement storage room where classified documents were kept in boxes at Mar-a-Lago.

CDC Gives Guidance For Trans People 'Chestfeeding' Kids, Accused Of Failing To Consider Possible Health Risks

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s official website published advice for trans and non-binary individuals on seeking guidance on how to "chestfeed" their infants.

In sections of the major health institute’s guidance on breastfeeding, it contained information for those who have had much of their breasts removed in gender-reassignment surgeries, or for biological men taking hormones to grow breasts, on how to feed their newborn children.

However, several doctors criticized the guidance, not simply because CDC has appeared to guide biological men in how to breastfeed children, but because they claimed the CDC has failed to gauge the risks posed to children drinking milk produced by chemicals used in gender-reassignment medical operations.

Court Ruling Prompts Fears Of ‘Wild West Of Disinformation’

An order limiting the Biden administration’s communication with social media companies could make it harder to curb disinformation as the 2024 election nears.

A federal judge on Tuesday curtailed communication between certain Biden administration agencies and social media companies after a GOP-led challenge to efforts to combat disinformation, arguing attempts to do so violated protected speech.

The ruling left experts concerned about a “chilling effect” on attempts to moderate false information online.

Zuckerberg Claims More Than 10 Million Threads Signups Within Hours Of Launch

More than 10 million people have signed up to Threads, Meta's rival to Twitter, within the first few hours of its launch, the Facebook parent's CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday.

Threads is the biggest challenger yet to Elon Musk-owned Twitter, which has seen a series of potential competitors emerge but not yet replace one of social media's most iconic companies, despite its epic struggles.

The app went live on Apple and Android app stores in 100 countries at 7:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday and won't have ads for now.

'Insanity': 4th Of July Mass Shootings Leave 20 Dead, 126 Injured

Twenty people were killed and 126 were injured in 22 mass shootings that erupted across the country between 5 p.m. ET Friday and 5 a.m. ET Wednesday, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a website that tracks shootings nationwide. The website, which defines a mass shooting as a single event with four or more victims either injured or killed, reported that the holiday mass shootings happened in 17 states and Washington D.C.

Among the major cities rocked by mass shooters were Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and Fort Worth, Texas.

Evers Nixes Top Two Income Tax Breaks, Signs Budget After 51 Partial Vetoes

Gov. Tony Evers today signed a budget that cuts income taxes by $175 million over the next two years — a fraction of what GOP lawmakers had proposed — while nixing Republican provisions to cut diversity, equity and inclusion positions at the UW System.

In all, Evers issued 51 partial vetoes — one more than two years ago — but signed off on most of the $98.7 billion budget GOP lawmakers sent him last week.

Republicans ripped the guv for slashing their income tax cuts. But Evers dismissed the $3.5 billion GOP package as geared toward the wealthy, saying he used his partial veto authority to do “what I can to ensure that tax relief goes to working families who need help affording rising costs, not the wealthiest taxpayer in Wisconsin.”

Signed, Sealed And Delivered: Bigger Government For 4 More Centuries

Lacking the supermajority required to override a veto, and the extreme unlikelihood of any Democrats suddenly breaking rank to override their governor, Governor Evers’ actions today put the budget into the history books.

In about the only thing about the budget that was not a historic record-breaker, this year’s 51 vetoes are nowhere near the high (457 in 1991), and don’t even set a personal best for Evers, who vetoed 50 items in the 2021-23 budget and 78 in 2019-21.

With 51 partial vetoes, the die is case on state spending is set for the next 2 years (except for the parts where the vetoes set spending for the next 4 centuries.) All that’s left is for taxpayers to pay the historically large bill and do it without tax relief.

More than $3 billion are now at risk of being spend during the remainder of the legislative session, on top of the budget’s already-hefty, historic $10.3 billion spending increase which expands government in one budget nearly as much as the total increase over all 4 of Walker’s.

Here's What 400 Years Of Wisconsin School District Funding Means

A surprise partial-veto from Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers gives school districts the ability to collect an additional $325 per student annually for the next 402 years.

The $325 amount is still about $75 per student less than what schools would need to keep up with the inflation rate, which is at 4.05 percent, compared to 4.93 percent last month and 8.58 percent last year, according to the consumer price index.

But this is still a substantial win for Wisconsin School Districts, said Sara Shaw, a senior researcher with the Wisconsin Policy Forum who focuses on education.

"Even though it is not going to make up what schools did not receive over the last two years, $325 per pupil is not a small number," Shaw said. "It is real money that will decrease in purchasing power over time. But it is meaningful."

Suspended Badger Player Accused Of Driving 117 Mph, Has Out-Of-State Arrest Warrant

A suspended Badger football player has an out-of-state arrest warrant and a citation in Rock County for what authorities said was driving a car at 117 mph.

UW-Madison Athletic Department officials Friday revealed linebacker Jordan Turner, 21, was suspended indefinitely. Also on Friday, Turner tweeted he was arrested for first-offense operating while intoxicated and other traffic issues and apologized.

Dane County Woman Charged With Money Laundering & Drug Offenses

A Windsor, Wisconsin woman is charged with money laundering and possessing fentanyl for distribution in an indictment returned on June 28, 2023 by a federal grand jury sitting in Madison, Wisconsin. The indictment is announced by Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin.

The indictment charges Alicia M. Allen, 37, with 4 counts of money laundering and 1 count of possessing 40 grams or more of fentanyl with intent to distribute. The indictment alleges that Allen caused proceeds from the distribution of controlled substances to be deposited in her business banking account on four occasions in June 2022, July 2022, and January 2023. The alleged drug proceeds deposited were in the amounts of $5,000, $4,000, $4,000, and $104,332.88. The indictment also alleges that on November 28, 2022, Allen possessed 40 grams or more of fentanyl with the intent to distribute.