Morning Headlines - Tuesday, July 29, 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 at the end for a little humor to go with your news!

U.S. and World Headlines

Police Officer Among Four Dead In Shooting At New York City Office Building

A gunman wielding an assault-style rifle has stormed a skyscraper in the heart of New York, killing four people before shooting himself dead.

The attacker, 27-year-old Shane Tamura of Las Vegas, walked into an office block on Manhattan's Park Avenue on Monday evening and opened fire in the lobby before taking a lift to the 33rd floor to continue his spree.

Four people were killed including New York City police officer Didarul Islam, 36, who was working security at the time. The three other victims have yet to be identified.

The gunman appears to have driven across the US from Las Vegas. Police say he was known to have mental health issues, and they are searching for a motive.

Even With High Tariffs, Trump’s Trade War Suddenly Is Starting To Look Not So Scary On Wall Street

U.S. tariffs on incoming goods look to be settling in only slightly less than what President Donald Trump had threatened in April, but the difference has been enough to ease some of Wall Street’s worst recession fears.

With the U.S.-European Union trade deal over the weekend, it now appears that the effective tariff rate, or the net impact aside from the nominal level, will end up in the 15%-20% range. That’s well above the low single-digit rate in place at the beginning of the year, but well off the feared 25% rate or worse that could have happened as a result of the April 2 announcement.

Economists had feared that aggressive tariffs Trump proposed in his April 2 “liberation day” announcement would spike inflation and lead to a pronounced slowdown or recession.

Cocaine Worth More Than $1 Million Seized At Texas Border

U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 77 pounds of cocaine worth more than $1 million at a port of entry in Texas, officials said.

Officers at Hidalgo Port of Entry in Texas referred a vehicle, a 2020 Renault Oroch, for a secondary inspection on Saturday, according to a CBP statement on Monday.

"A canine inspection resulted in an alert and a nonintrusive imaging system scan revealed anomalies within the vehicle," officials said. "Upon closer physical examination, CBP officers discovered 30 packages containing a total of 34.90 kilograms (76.94 lbs.) of alleged cocaine hidden within the vehicle."

Authorities said the narcotics had an estimated street value of $1,027,316.

Natural Disasters Have Caused More Than $131 Billion In Losses So Far In 2025

The Los Angeles wildfires and severe spring thunderstorms are just a few of the natural disasters that have contributed to more than $131 billion in global losses for the first half of 2025, according to a new report from the insurance company Munich Re.

Overall losses so far in 2025 were slightly lower than the same time period in 2024, but still above long-term averages.

Hall Of Fame Second Baseman Ryne Sandberg Has Died After Battling Cancer

Ryne Sandberg, a Hall of Fame second baseman who became one of baseball's best all-around players while starring for the Chicago Cubs, has died. He was 65.

Sandberg was surrounded by his family when he died at his home on Monday, according to the team.

Sandberg announced in January 2024 that he had been diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer. He had chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and then said in August 2024 that he was cancer-free.

Wisconsin Headlines

Gov. Evers Not Looking To Endorse His Replacement

Gov. Tony Evers says he doesn’t want to play kingmaker.

Evers, who last week announced that he is not running for reelection next year, told reporters on Monday that he is not looking to endorse a Democratic candidate.

“I'll never say never,” the governor said. “But I want to make sure who the rest of the candidates are before I even make that decision.”

Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez said on UpFront on Sunday that Gov. Evers gave her a heads-up about his decision, though she didn’t say when he told her he was not going to run.

Dept. Of Revenue Announces Distribution Of Shared Revenue And Property Tax Credits

The Wisconsin Department of Revenue announced the distribution of $1,417,413,641 in shared revenue and property tax credit payments to local governments across the state on Monday, July 28, 2025. These payments are a crucial component of the state’s commitment to supporting local services and reducing the tax burden for property owners.

The shared revenue program was established in the early 1970s and replaced the existing sharing state taxes program. The shared revenue program was updated under Wisconsin 2023 Act 12, providing financial assistance to Wisconsin counties, municipalities, school districts, technical colleges, special districts and tax incremental districts. The supplemental county and municipal aid (SCMA) is restricted and must be used for law enforcement, fire protection, emergency medical services, emergency response communications, public works, courts, and transportation; no SCMA amounts received may be used for administrative services.

How Are Wisconsin’s Local Governments Spending Millions In Opioid Settlement Payouts?

While Wisconsin does a better job than many states in making that information accessible, advocates say it has room to improve, particularly when it comes to transparency around local spending. Not every local government has filed required reports on time, and Wisconsin Watch and WPR found reporting errors on documents submitted by more than a dozen local governments.

The state gets 30 percent of the settlement funding and documents its spending on a web page. The rest flows to 71 Wisconsin counties (all but Polk, where the county board declined to join Wisconsin’s lawsuit) and 16 municipalities, according to Wisconsin’s settlement agreement finalized in 2022. It’s considered compensation for a public health crisis that killed at least 14,747 Wisconsinites between 2000 and 2023.

DNR Investigating Boat Explosion In Pierce County

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is investigating the cause of an explosion of a boat engine that caused the ejection of all 11 passengers on board into the Mississippi River near Prescott in Pierce County on Saturday, July 26.

There were no fatalities. All passengers were recovered, and eight of them received medical treatment at a nearby hospital.

The early investigation confirmed the boat’s operator had attempted to start the vessel’s engine twice, and on the third attempt the engine exploded. While attempts to extinguish the fire were underway, the vessel drifted into a second boat and caused fire damage. All fires were extinguished.

‘There’s Signs Of Life’: Wisconsin Housing Expert Analyzes New State Data

Sales of previously owned homes in Wisconsin rose 8.1 percent in June compared to the same month last year.

That’s according to the Wisconsin Realtors Association’s latest housing report.  Kurt Paulsen, professor of urban planning in the Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, called the sales jump a “mixed signal.”

“It’s positive to see a little movement in June, but if you look at the numbers for the first six months of this year compared to the first six months of last year, we’re right at about the same pace."