Morning Headlines - Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022

U.S. and World Headlines

Flights Grounded, Classes Canceled As Florida Prepares For Hurricane Ian

Hurricane Ian has been upgraded to a category 3 hurricane with winds raging at 125 mph as the storm made landfall in Cuba at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Storm preparations were in full swing in Florida on Monday with Hurricane Ian on the horizon as officials announced widespread school closures, flight cancellations and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers moved their practice to Miami.

Ian is expected to pass west of the Florida keys later Tuesday before heading toward the Gulf Coast of Florida between Wednesday and Thursday.

Traffic also came to a standstill on major highways in the Sunshine State as more than 300,000 residents have been ordered to evacuate ahead of Ian’s arrival.

Vietnam Imposes Curfew, Mass Evacuations Ahead Of Typhoon Noru

Vietnam has imposed a curfew and ordered hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate their homes as a powerful typhoon that left at least eight dead in the Philippines is set to hit Vietnam’s central region.

Schools have been closed and public events cancelled.

“We don’t have much time left. The storm is intensifying, so our responses must be stronger and faster,” Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said at an emergency disaster response meeting on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

Evacuation, he said, must take place “as soon as possible”.

Approximately 270,000 military personnel have been placed on standby, the government said in a statement.

Five Republicans Poised To Increase Their Power If The GOP Takes The House

Top Republicans on House panels, confident about the GOP’s chances of taking control of the chamber next year, have for months been planning what they’ll do with committee gavels.

Committee chairs influence hearing focus, investigations and subpoenas, in addition to legislative priorities. Lawmakers’ personal style can play a large role in a committee’s work.

The House Republican Conference’s Steering Committee will formally select most committee chairs. But while the leaders of some committees are up in the air, most current ranking members are poised to be chairs next year. 

Here are ranking members on five powerful committees likely to increase their power in a GOP majority.

Republicans Sound Alarm Over Chinese Government-Linked Farmland Purchase Near North Dakota Air Base

Fifty-one Republican lawmakers are sending a letter to three of President Biden’s Cabinet secretaries warning that national security is threatened by a Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-linked company's efforts to buy farmland near an Air Force base in North Dakota.

Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., led the letter with 50 of his colleagues to Secretaries Lloyd Austin, Janet Yelle, and Tom Vilsack about the land acquisitions near North Dakota’s Grand Forks Air Force Base by Chinese manufacturer the Fufeng Group.

The letter, exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital, will be sent to the three secretaries and warns of the "alarming development" for U.S. national security by allowing the Fufeng Group to purchase the land so close to the base.

NASA's Dart Spacecraft Successfully Slams Into Asteroid In Historic Test Of Planetary Defense

It was a cosmic smash-up watched around the world.

A NASA spacecraft intentionally slammed into an asteroid Monday in a historic test of humanity's ability to protect Earth from a potentially catastrophic collision with a space rock.

The agency's DART probe, short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test, carried out the first-of-its-kind maneuver on a small and harmless space rock known as Dimorphos, which is about 6.8 million miles from Earth.

The $325 million mission was designed to see whether "nudging" an asteroid can alter its trajectory, providing scientists with a valuable real-world test of planetary defense technologies.

Wisconsin Headlines

Vos Sues To Block Jan. 6 Committee Subpoena

Wisconsin's Republican Assembly leader is suing to block a subpoena that orders him to testify before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection about a conversation he had with Donald Trump about overturning the 2020 election.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos filed the lawsuit on Sept. 25 in federal court in Wisconsin arguing that the subpoena falls outside the scope of the committee's investigation into the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021 and infringes on his legislative immunity from civil process.

WEC Launches Election Education Video Series

The Wisconsin Elections Commission is proud to announce the launch of an election education video series, “Elections 101,” that will help inform high school students and the public about how voting works in Wisconsin.

The launch of the WEC video series is a direct response to the increased public need for information about Wisconsin’s election system.

The four-part video series provides an overview of Wisconsin’s system of election administration, as well as a closer look at fundamental components of voting, such as registration, casting an absentee ballot, voting at the polls, and how Wisconsin keeps elections secure.

The four-part video series is available for the public to view on the WEC’s website at elections.wi.gov/101.

Starting Monday, Sept. 26, the WEC, with the assistance of the Department of Public Instruction, is making the four-video series available for use by high school educators across the state.

La Crosse Man Sentenced To 24 Months For Illegal Firearm Possession

Shoua Lee, 41, La Crosse, Wisconsin, was sentenced on Thursday, September 22, by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 24 months in federal prison for possession of a firearm by a felon. The prison term will be followed by 36 months of supervised release. Lee pleaded guilty to this charge on July 5, 2022.

On July 15, 2020, La Crosse Police Department (LCPD) officers were investigating the drug trafficking activity of Kong Vang and Pader Yang in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Shoua Lee was observed with others at their residence that day.  LCPD officers searched the residence and found multiple firearms, including a Hi-Point .40 caliber handgun, and a large quantity of methamphetamine. LCPD discovered a surveillance video from the same residence from two weeks earlier which shows Vang and Lee possessing the same Hi-Point .40 caliber handgun that was seized by LCPD officers.

Lee was prohibited from legally possessing a firearm due to multiple prior felony convictions. He was on state supervision at the time of this offense for, among other things, possession of a firearm by a felon and marijuana trafficking. Lee’s state supervision has since been revoked and he is currently serving three years in state prison with an anticipated release date of August 13, 2023.

At sentencing, Judge Conley highlighted several aggravating factors including Lee’s possession of a firearm while using methamphetamine, that he possessed a gun less than six months after being sentenced for a similar charge, and a prior criminal history that included prison time for drug trafficking.

Wisconsin Home Heating Costs Likely To Increase 17 Percent This Winter, Report Finds

Wisconsin residents will likely pay hundreds more to heat their home this winter, a trend that has increased for the second year in a row. It's likely to impact low-income families across the state and nation, leading to an increased demand for energy assistance programs.

Homeowners and renters nationwide are expected to see a 17.2 percent increase in their heat bill this winter compared to last, according to an estimate from the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, or NEADA. A September report from that association found a 35 percent increase in estimated winter heating costs from the 2020-2021 winter heating season to the 2022-2023 season.

The increase will "put millions of lower income families at risk of falling behind on their energy bills and having no choice but to make difficult decisions between paying for food, medicine and rent," according to Mark Wolfe, executive director of NEADA.

Fraud Allegations Could Mean Serious Trouble For Brett Favre's Legacy

Brett Favre, one of the most revered athletes in Wisconsin sports history, is the subject of an FBI investigation as new information unfolds on the scandal in Favre's home state of Mississippi.

The scandal involves the alleged misuse of welfare funds to build a volleyball facility at Favre's alma mater, The University of Mississippi, during the time Favre's daughter was a student-athlete there.

It's all part of a bigger investigation into millions of dollars of misspent public welfare funds within the Mississippi Department of Human Services.

On Monday, new court filings showed the hall of fame quarterback pressing then-Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant for millions of dollars in state money, even after being told spending these specific state funds in this particular manner could be illegal.