Morning Headlines - Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025 | Recent News

Start your day informed with today’s must-read headlines from around Wisconsin and the world. And don’t forget to check out our Meme of the Day at the end for a little humor to go with your news!

U.S. and World Headlines

Trump Moves To Fire Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook, Citing Mortgage Fraud Allegations

President Donald Trump is removing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook effective immediately, according to a letter he posted to Truth Social on Monday night.

In the letter, Trump writes: "Pursuant to my authority under Article II of the Constitution of the United States and the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, as amended, you are hereby removed from your position on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, effective immediately."

Trump cites a "criminal referral" from Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte, in which Pulte accused Cook of mortgage fraud.

Cracker Barrel Responds Amid Fan Backlash To Contemporary Country Redesign

Cracker Barrel is responding following fan backlash on its recent redesign efforts.

The 56-year-old restaurant chain, founded in 1969, said in a lengthy statement shared to its website Monday, that the company "could've done a better job sharing who we are."

"If the last few days have shown us anything, it's how deeply people care about Cracker Barrel. We're truly grateful for your heartfelt voices," Cracker Barrel said. "You've also shown us that we could've done a better job sharing who we are and who we'll always be."

Trump’s Federal Stake In Intel Prompts GOP Complaints

President Trump’s announcement that the federal government would take a 10 percent stake in Intel, once the nation’s most successful chip manufacturer, has raised alarm bells with conservative Republicans, who see it as part of a bigger trend under Trump of the federal government asserting itself in corporate decisionmaking.

Trump announced his agreement with Intel after he reached a separate deal earlier this month with two other U.S.-based chipmakers, Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), that will see them pay the U.S. government 15 percent of their revenue from AI-chip sales to China.

Eli Lilly’s Weight Loss Pill Orforglipron Clears Its Latest Trial, Paving Way For Approval

Eli Lilly on Tuesday said its daily obesity pill succeeded in another late-stage trial, helping patients with obesity and Type 2 diabetes lose weight and lower their blood sugar levels.

The company now has the full clinical trial data required to start filing for approvals of the drug for chronic weight management with global regulators.

The rate of side effects and treatment discontinuations in the study, called ATTAIN-2, appeared to be generally consistent with two recent phase three trials on the pill, called orforglipron.

Powerball Estimated Jackpot Jumps To $815 Million, Game's 7th Biggest, After No Winners Of $750 Million Grand Prize

Wednesday night's Powerball jackpot will be an estimated $815 million, the seventh biggest in the game's history, after no winning tickets were sold for Monday night's $750 million grand prize, Powerball's 10th largest ever when it was up for grabs.

The winning numbers drawn Monday night were 16, 19, 34, 37 and 64, with a Powerball of 22.

Wednesday's jackpot will have an estimated cash value of $367.9 million, Powerball said.

The jackpot could grow as people gobble up tickets as the drawing approaches.

Dane County Judge Rejects Motions To Dismiss Felony Charges Against Trump Aides

A Wisconsin judge on Aug. 22 declined to dismiss felony charges against two attorneys and a former aide to President Donald Trump who advised Trump in 2020 as part of a plan to submit paperwork falsely claiming that the Republican had won the battleground state that year.

Dane County Circuit Judge John Hyland rejected the motions to dismiss the 11 felony charges filed against the three defendants. The charges are for using forgery in an attempt to defraud each of the 10 Republican electors who cast their ballots for Trump that year.

Wisconsin Researchers Sound Alarm After Us Supreme Court Upholds DEI-Related Research Cuts

For the last few weeks, Karyn Frick, a neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, had been scrambling to rebuild a student research program that she thought had been killed.

The program, aimed at involving more undergraduate students in research on aging, relied on a five-year, $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, the nation’s largest public funder of biomedical research.

In the earliest days of President Donald Trump’s second term, that federal agency began terminating research grants deemed counter to “agency priorities,” including those flagged for supporting research into gender, sexuality and diversity. That eventually included Frick’s grant, which had originally been aimed at students from underrepresented backgrounds.

Maciver's Verdict On The 2025-27 State Budget

Wisconsin’s newest state budget went into effect last month, and it is unlike anything we have ever seen at the MacIver Institute. The combination of a Democrat governor and Republican legislature is expected to yield mixed results, but it doesn’t seem like conservatives got anything to cheer about this time around.

The budget contains the largest spending increase this century, creates a long-term structural deficit, and slams Wisconsin residents with billions of dollars of hidden taxes and fees.

Superior Switches On Wisconsin’s First City-Owned Broadband Network

A faster and more reliable way to get online is being offered to residents of one Superior neighborhood with others soon to be added, the city’s mayor said.

ConnectSuperior began making high-speed broadband service available to residents earlier this month with the completion of its fiber optic infrastructure, though the city itself isn’t the internet provider.

“What we created is a physical network of fiber lines over which private internet service providers can send the internet to their customers,” Superior Mayor Jim Paine explained of the service that offers an alternative to the cable-based internet already offered by Spectrum. “It is the only network of its kind in the state of Wisconsin. It is the fastest network in the Twin Ports.”

Avoid Ash Trees When Placing Deer Stands

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reminds hunters to avoid placing deer stands in or near ash trees as they start scouting properties ahead of the coming deer hunting season.

Most ash trees in the southern two-thirds of Wisconsin are dead or dying due to the emerald ash borer, and infestations in the northern part of the state are rapidly expanding. Emerald ash borer has been confirmed in all 72 Wisconsin counties, and unreported infestations are also likely to be present.