Morning Headlines - Wednesday, April 30, 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

UPS Cutting 20,000 Jobs Amid Reduction In Amazon Shipments

UPS on Tuesday announced it is planning to cut 20,000 jobs this year, part of a cost-cutting effort that's linked to the delivery giant's decision to deliver fewer packages from Amazon, its biggest customer.

The shipping company, which operates in over 200 countries, currently has around 490,000 employees. The layoffs will impact slightly over 4% of its workforce. This follows an announcement from UPS last year that it would cut 12,000 positions.

Supreme Court Considers Endorsing Country's First Religious Public Charter School

A case that could weaken the separation of church and state goes before the Supreme Court on Wednesday as the justices consider whether Oklahoma can approve the first-ever religious public charter school.

Although the oral argument concerns only St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which would operate online throughout the state with a remit to promote the Catholic faith, the case could have broad ramifications.

5 Ways Trump Has Changed The Economy In His First 100 Days

Economic policy during President Trump’s first hundred days in office has been anything but business as usual.

Trump’s tariffs have reset global trade relations and put businesses and investors in thrall to the administration’s every move.

Trump has blitzed regulatory agencies and ordered wide-ranging government layoffs, taking the “move fast and break things” mantra espoused by his supporters in the tech world to new extremes. The whirlwind cadence of orders and reversals has left U.S. economic allies and adversaries alike trying to figure out where Trump’s policies are going to land.

Even U.S. financial assets — traditional safe havens in times of economic distress from recessions to wars — have shown signs of weakness.

Here’s a look at the effect Trump’s policies have had on the economy during his first hundred days.

GM Recalls Nearly 600,000 Trucks And Suvs Over Risk Of Engine Failure

General Motors is recalling 597,630 of its full-size U.S. trucks and SUVs because the vehicles' V8 engines can fail without warning, raising the risk of a crash.

Manufacturing defects in the connecting rod and/or crankshaft engine components "can lead to engine damage and engine failure," according to documents posted Tuesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

’90s Kids Used Credit Cards To Duck Age Gates. Today’s Kids Just Use Google.

Back in the mid-1990s, when The Net was among the top box office draws and Americans were just starting to flock online in droves, kids had to swipe their parents' credit cards or find a fraudulent number online to access adult content on the web. But today's kids—even in states with the strictest age verification laws—know they can just use Google.

Last month, a study analyzing the relative popularity of Google search terms found that age verification laws shift users' search behavior. It's impossible to tell if the shift represents young users attempting to circumvent the child-focused law or adult users who aren't the actual target of the laws. But overall, enforcement causes nearly half of users to stop searching for popular adult sites complying with laws and instead search for a noncompliant rival (48 percent) or virtual private network (VPN) services (34 percent), which are used to mask a location and circumvent age checks on preferred sites, the study found.

Wisconsin Headlines

Republican Lawmakers Talk About Their Spending Requests At Final JFC Hearing

While Republican leaders remain tight-lipped about the new state budget, some rank and file Republicans are talking about their spending priorities.

The budget-writing Joint Committee on Finance held its fourth and final public budget hearing Tuesday in Wausau.

And once again, JFC co-chair Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, said Republicans are focusing on their process.

“We are certainly hopeful that we will have a budget that includes the tax relief, the details of that haven't been talked about yet [or] negotiated yet,” Marklein told reporters in Wausau. “And we're not going to negotiate anything in the media.”

Wisconsin Supreme Court Temporarily Suspends Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan After Arrest

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has suspended Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan after she was arrested by the FBI and charged last week for allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant evade arrest, an order from the court shows.

"The court has learned that Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah C. Dugan has been charged with two federal criminal offenses, one of which is a felony and one of which is a misdemeanor," a two-page order from the court filed Tuesday stated.

Wisconsin Home Sales Saw Double-Digit Decrease Last Month Compared To 2024

Wisconsin home sales in March were down by double digits compared to the same month in 2024. And sales through three months of this year are down from last year, according to a new report from the Wisconsin Realtors Association.

The report said existing home sales in March fell by 10.2 percent compared to March 2024, and sales through three months were down 0.8 percent from last year.

The supply of homes also continues to be “well below a balanced market” and new listings have been “relatively flat” over the last year, the report said. That helped to push the median home price up to $300,500 in the first quarter of 2025, a 7.3 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

Investigation Details Multiple Policy Violations By Madison City Clerk Who Failed To Count 2024 Ballots

The former clerk who somehow failed to count nearly 200 ballots in Wisconsin’s capital city didn’t break any laws but did violate multiple policies and her contractual duty to supervise elections and maintain professional standards, the results of a city-led investigation released on April 29 show.

Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl resigned earlier in April amid city and state investigations into her conduct during the November elections. She said in a message to The Associated Press that she hadn’t seen the investigation’s findings and declined to comment.

Assembly Republicans Call On Governor To Rescind ICE Guidance To State Agencies

State Assembly Republicans are asking Governor Tony Evers to rescind his guidance to state agencies on how to deal with encounters with immigration officials.

The guidance was sent to state employees earlier this month. Among the steps that should be taken, the guidance instructed employees to immediately notify their supervisor, have the agents identify themselves and not to give them access to files without first talking with an attorney.