Morning Headlines - Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025

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 and the end for a little humor to go with your news!

U.S. and World Headlines

Lawsuits Allege Power Company Involvement In LA Wildfires

At least two lawsuits have been filed against Southern California Edison power company, on the speculation that faulty power lines may have sparked the Eaton Fire, which has claimed at least 16 lives and destroyed over a thousand structures.

Investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) have not determined a cause for the fire; the agency says it has just begun its investigation into the Eaton and Palisades wildfires that are still burning. But that hasn't stopped speculation.

Biden Announces Student Debt Relief For 150,000 Borrowers, Bringing Total Helped To More Than 5M

The Biden administration announced Monday it was forgiving student loans for more than 150,000 borrowers, bringing the total number of individuals impacted by debt relief in President Biden’s term to over 5 million.

The 150,000 new borrowers are made up of 85,000 individuals who were defrauded by their schools, 61,000 people with permanent or total disabilities and 6,100 public service workers.

China Considers Selling TikTok U.S. Operations To Musk, Bloomberg Reports

The Chinese government is considering a plan that would have Elon Musk acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations to keep the app from being effectively banned, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.

The contingency plan is one of several options China is exploring as the U.S. Supreme Court determines whether to uphold a law that calls for China-based ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. business by Jan. 19, the report said, citing anonymous sources.

Walmart’s Logo Got Its First Facelift In Nearly 20 Years

Walmart is giving its logo the first facelift in nearly two decades, rolling out a new identity that is a subtle nod to its past.

The 61-year-old company unveiled Monday a refresh of its brand identity featuring a redesigned logo the company says is inspired by founder Sam Walton’s old trucker hat.

Walmart’s logo now uses a chunkier font compared to its previous iteration, with the new font being inspired from a typeface the chain used from the 1980s through the early 2000s.

Special Counsel's Final Report Says Trump Would Have Been Convicted If He Hadn't Won

Attorney General Merrick Garland has submitted to Congress a portion of former special counsel Jack Smith's final report on his investigations into President-elect Donald Trump after a court order blocking its release expired at midnight Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the matter.

In his report, Smith wrote that his office began its prosecution of Trump because it had enough evidence against him, saying that "[b]ut for Mr. Trump's election and imminent return to the Presidency, the Office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial."

Wisconsin Headlines

TV Ad Spending Begins In Wisconsin's 2025 State Supreme Court Race

Ad wars in the hotly contested race for control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court are beginning.

Republican-backed candidate Brad Schimel is launching a $1.1 million television ad buy statewide on Jan. 14, marking the first spending on TV ads in the closely watched race in the presidential swing state.

Schimel, a Waukesha County judge, faces Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford in the race for an open seat on the state’s highest court. The election is April 1.

Wisconsin Court Of Appeals To Issue Decision On Steve Avery Case This Week

A document filed on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals website lists Steven Avery’s appeal on a list of opinions set for release on January 15, this Wednesday.

Avery, along with his nephew, Brendan Dassey, are serving life sentences for the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach. Their case was documented in the Netflix series “Making a Murderer,” which received widespread attention.

Avery’s defense team has filed an appeal to reverse his conviction.

Enbridge Submits Final Report To Federal Regulators On Oil Spill In Jefferson County

An Enbridge report submitted to federal regulators states just four gallons of crude oil reached groundwater at the site of an Enbridge spill in Jefferson County. A valve failure caused 69,000 gallons of oil to leak from the company’s Line 6 pipeline.

Enbridge submitted the report to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, or PHMSA, on Jan. 10. The company found 0.1 barrels of crude oil, or 4.2 gallons, reached groundwater due to the spill discovered Nov. 11 on Enbridge’s Line 6.

Wisconsin Man Pleads Guilty To Failing To Pay Employment Taxes

United States Attorney Gregory J. Haanstad announced that on January 8, 2025, Senior US District Judge William C. Griesbach accepted the guilty plea of Douglas Larson to 1 count of failure to truthfully account for and pay for employment taxes to the IRS.

On November 15, 2024, a one-count information was filed alleging that Larson had failed to pay over employment taxes for each quarter from January 2018 through September 2021. During that time period, Larson failed to pay over approximately $396,000 in employment taxes that he withheld from his employees’ paychecks.

Power Struggle In Minnesota Legislature Before The Start Of Its 2025 Session Echoes The 2011 Clash In Wisconsin

The 2024 election resulted in Democrats and Republicans each winning 67 seats in the Minnesota House of Representatives and party leaders worked out a power-sharing plan, but after a judge ruled one Democrat didn't live in his district, boycott and recall threats ensued.