Morning Headlines - Tuesday, Mar. 7, 2023 | Recent News

U.S. and World Headlines

Minnesota Lawmaker Tells 'White Christians' To 'Stop Adopting Native American Babies' Because Changing Their Names And Identities Is 'Genocide'

A Minnesota Democratic lawmaker in the state legislature is facing abundant criticism for stating online that she believes 'white Christians' who adopt Native American children are committing 'genocide.'

'I'm sick of white Christians adopting our babies and rejoicing,' wrote Minnesota State Rep. Heather Keeler on her now-private personal Facebook page.

'It's really a sad day when that happens. It means the genocide continues.

'If you care about our babies, advocate against the genocide,' she wrote. 'Help the actual issues impacting indigenous parents, stop stealing our babies and changing their names under the impression you are helping. White saviors are the worst!'

New York Republicans Go To All-Out War Against Santos

New York’s House Republicans are racing away from the walking political grenade known as George Santos.

Six of Santos’ New York colleagues, particularly the four who flipped tight battleground districts last fall, are working — out in the open and behind the scenes — to contain the blowback from the embattled lawmaker’s deceptions about his past. The first-term foursome started by breaking from the vast majority of their party by calling for Santos to resign, a move that would hurt the GOP’s already tiny majority.

And the newly elected New York Republicans are only growing louder: They’re pushing legislation aimed at hitting Santos financially, hoping to prevent the now-notorious fabulist from profiting off book or TV deals on his story. And they’re firing off fighting words on social media and local airwaves.

Tucker Carlson Shows The First Of His Jan. 6 Footage, Calls It ‘Mostly Peaceful Chaos’

Fox News host Tucker Carlson released the first portion of never-before-seen angles of footage from the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters on Monday, describing the scene at one point as “mostly peaceful chaos.”

“‘Deadly insurrection.’ Everything about that phrase is a lie,” Carlson said on his widely watched weeknight program. “Very little about Jan. 6 was organized or violent. Surveillance video from inside the Capitol shows mostly peaceful chaos.”

Justice Department Set To Block Jetblue's $3.8 Billion Deal For Spirit Airlines

Federal antitrust enforcers are preparing to file a lawsuit seeking to block JetBlue Airways' proposed $3.8 billion acquisition of Spirit Airlines.

The deal, announced in July of 2022 after JetBlue topped a rival bid for Spirit from Frontier Airlines, would create the fifth-largest carrier in the U.S.

Robin Hayes, CEO of New York-based JetBlue, told the Wall Street Journal on Monday that he expected the Justice Department to file suit to stop its deal for Spirit this week, saying that antitrust officials "came to the table with their minds made up." JetBlue would fight such a government suit in court, he told the paper.

What Running Does To The Knees, According To A Large Survey Of Marathon Runners

Runners often hear the warning “Keep pounding the pavement and you’ll destroy your knees.” A new study found that runners were not more likely to develop hip or knee osteoarthritis the longer, faster and more frequently they ran.

Osteoarthritis, a condition marked by deteriorating cartilage where the bones meet, affects more than 32.5 million adults in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As the cartilage cushioning the bones wears down, osteoarthritis can cause pain, stiffness and even disability. It’s the most common form of arthritis, especially among older adults, and there’s no known cure.

Candidates Expected To Debate Just Once Before Wisconsin's Consequential Supreme Court Election

The candidates in Wisconsin’s consequential Supreme Court race may participate in just one debate together, according to schedules released by the candidates.

On Monday, former Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly and Judge Janet Protasiewicz released their respective debate schedules. Only one event was shared by both candidates — the State Bar of Wisconsin's debate on March 21.

The State Bar event was the only debate Protasiewicz has agreed to participate in. Kelly's list included debates planned by the Milwaukee Press Club, the Dane County Bar Association, the Downtown Madison Rotary, the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce and multiple media outlets, including PBS Wisconsin.

It is unclear whether those debates will continue as scheduled without the participation of Protasiewicz.

Both candidates have confirmed that they will sit down with the editorial boards of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Wisconsin State Journal.

How Much New Funding Is Available For Wisconsin's 2023 Budget?

Republicans who control the Wisconsin Legislature and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers can’t seem to agree on how much extra money they have to work with in the state budget.

Attempting to justify their budget priorities, Evers, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and the Republican co-chairs of the Legislature’s budget-writing committee cited three different amounts for what they expect to have at their discretion to fund new programs.

Here’s what current budget projections say about the money that’s available:

How much new money is up for grabs?

WI Attorney General Asks State To Fund Future Of DOJ’s School Safety Office

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul is asking the state to step up when it comes to funding for school safety.

Federal funding is running out soon for the state’s Department of Justice Office of School Safety so AG Kaul is asking the state legislature to make a long-term investment.

“This office is doing a lot of important work to keep our schools safe so that’s the good news,” said Kaul.

The bad news is the federal funds, including covid-relief dollars, used to operate The Office of School Safety since 2018, is running out.

“We anticipate around the end of this year,” said Kaul.

BBB Of Wisconsin Sees Rise In Employment Scams In 2022

The Better Business Bureau says it’s continuing to see a lot of people falling for employment scams.

BBB Wisconsin spokesperson Lisa Schiller says most employment scams they see are a variant of the bad check scam.

“Scammers sending fake checks and saying, ‘this is for your remote work at home job, go cash, this, you know, use the money for supplies, etc, and then send the rest back to us.'”

Lisa Schiller says these scams continue to hit people ages 18 to 34, who might have lost their job due to COVID or are looking for a better job.

“Consumers are having their information taken off at different sites such as Indeed. They’re contacted, and then they’re offered a job. And they’re told that they need to give personal information such as a checking account so that they can be paid direct deposit.”

Fact Or Fiction: Al Capone's Wisconsin Stopping Grounds

There’s something about all the stories of Chicago gangster Al Capone roaming America’s Dairyland:

Good talk, not much game.

Capone had a house in Kenosha! He hung out in Door County! He sold cream puffs at the State Fair.

OK, we’re making up the last one; but you get the idea. If Al Capone in Wisconsin were a trivia category, it would have more fiction than fact.

"There are many local legends of Al Capone in Wisconsin, most of which I suspect were not true," said Robert Ritholz, who has history degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and takes friends on informal tours of Chicago mafia sites, sometimes in his antique Rolls-Royce.

"There really is very little evidence that Capone spent a whole lot of time in Wisconsin, and when he was in the state, he seems to have behaved himself," Ritholz said.