Morning Headlines - Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022 | Recent News

U.S. and World Headlines

Biden Signs Major Climate, Health Care And Tax Bill Into Law

President Joe Biden signed into law Tuesday a major Democratic spending bill that seeks to fight climate change, raise taxes on corporations and expand health care coverage.

The bill, dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act, is a major legislative achievement for Democrats ahead of the midterm elections. It passed the House and the Senate last week with the support of every Democrat and no Republicans.

“With this law, the American people won, and the special interests lost,” Biden said in remarks from the White House. “We didn’t tear down; we built up. We didn’t look back; we looked forward. And today offers further proof that the soul of America is vibrant.”

Six Takeaways From Primaries In Wyoming And Alaska

Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, who since the insurrection at the Capitol has become the Republican Party's most forceful critic of former President Donald Trump, was ousted from her House seat by Trump-backed Harriet Hageman, CNN projected Tuesday.

In Alaska, voters were casting ballots in another race the former President is focused on, with Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski squaring off in the first of what's likely to be two rounds against the Trump-endorsed Kelly Tshibaka.

Former Gov. Sarah Palin, meanwhile, is attempting a political comeback in a special election for the state's lone House seat.

Here are six takeaways from Tuesday's contest in Wyoming as Alaskans wrap up their voting.

Ex-Cop Lane Will Report To Colorado Prison In Floyd Killing

Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane, who was sentenced to 2 1/2 years for violating George Floyd’s civil rights, will do his time at a low-security federal prison camp in Colorado.

A court order Tuesday directs Lane to report to the Federal Correctional Institution Englewood in the Denver suburb of Littleton on Aug. 30.

U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson had recommended that the Bureau of Prisons send Lane to the low-security prison camp in Duluth, closer to his home, but the bureau makes the final decisions on where to place inmates, including weighing safety concerns.

“He should be fine there,” said Lane's defense attorney, Earl Gray.

FBI Search Cements Trump’s Hold On GOP

The conservative outcry over the FBI’s search of former President Trump’s estate in Florida has seemingly cemented Trump’s grip on the GOP electorate.

Both allies and Republicans less inclined to back a new run for the White House by the former president believe the outcry over the search effectively blunts any path for a challenger to run to the right of Trump. Would-be rivals in a 2024 primary, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), have fallen in line to back Trump and attack the FBI.

The former president may still face legal ramifications from the search, and the cloud of yet another investigation could make some voters nervous about his prospects in a general election. But in the short term, those close to Trump believe the search and subsequent outcry make it even likelier he will be the Republican nominee in 2024.

Most American Diets Need More Vitamin E

Nearly all of us aren't getting enough of a critical vitamin that supports vision, brain health and even developing fetuses — vitamin E.

Around 90% of U.S. adults' diets don't contain adequate amounts of vitamin E, studies have shown.

Vitamin E's major function is as an antioxidant. It quietly protects our cells from the oxidative damage caused by chemicals that are formed naturally when we convert food to energy.

Homicide Defendant Released On $10,000 Bail In Wisconsin

A man charged in a fatal shooting in Wisconsin has been released on $10,000 bail that was initially set at $500,000.

Karvel Freeman, 35, of Madison, was released from the jail in La Crosse County where he's charged with party to first-degree homicide and party to second-degree recklessly endangering safety.

Freeman and Nelson Brown, 25, of Rockford, Illinois are accused in the Jan. 8 shooting death of 36-year-old Ernest Knox during a party at a La Crosse apartment.

Maps: Wisconsin's 2022 Republican Primaries For Governor And Attorney General

Wisconsin's 2022 primaries initially offered prospects of competitive races on both sides of the aisle. But after a trio of Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate dropped out and threw their support behind the frontrunner, the remaining major political question marks were to be found among Republican campaigns for governor and attorney general. Both of these Republican races were portrayed by the candidates themselves as inside versus outsider affairs. The vote totals for the candidates in each underscore the role of that dynamic along with Wisconsin's much-discussed urban-rural divergence and even good old-fashioned hometown support.

The Republican candidates for governor and attorney general were high turnout races that were relatively dynamic — in terms of their outcomes, though, the former was not particularly close, while the latter offered a hair's breadth of difference that Wisconsin often sees in general election showdowns.

PolitiFact: Wisconsin Among The Top So Far In Allocating Federal Covid Funds To Businesses

Evers has been tuning up a message framed around an area typically associated with Republicans: Business.

"We are number one in the country as far as our spending money on businesses as it relates to the percentage of federal funds that we receive," Evers told Charles Benson of WTMJ-TV, Channel 4, in a July 24, 2022, interview.

Evers made a similar claim in February. "I’m proud to report that, as a share of the federal aid our state has received, Wisconsin ranked second in the country for aid we’ve directed to economic development, and we ranked first in the country in aid we’ve allocated to businesses."

Evers is talking, of course, about COVID relief funding that came to the state – money that, notably, was up to Evers alone (not the GOP-controlled Legislature) to distribute.

Does Wisconsin really rank first in money allocated to businesses, when measured as a percentage of federal funds received?

Let’s take a look.

Wisconsin Man Charged In 1992 Double Homicide After DNA Sample From Traffic Stop Tied Him To The Crime Scene

A Wisconsin man was arrested and charged in the 1992 killings of two people after his DNA was obtained during a traffic stop last month and matched evidence from the crime scene, according to a criminal complaint.

Tony G. Haase, 51, faces two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in connection to the killings of Timothy W. Mumbrue and Tanna M. Togstad on March 21, 1992, in Waupaca County, Wisconsin, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

Investigators found "numerous print impressions" at the crime scene, some of which were left behind in the blood of the homicide victims. A sample was taken to the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory in Madison for eventual forensic DNA analysis, according to the complaint.

Minnesota Man Sentenced To More Than 8 Years For His Role In A Drug Conspiracy

Chai Vang, 40, St. Paul, Minnesota was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 8 ½ years in federal prison for his role in a heroin and fentanyl conspiracy. Vang pleaded guilty on January 13, 2022 to conspiring to distribute heroin and fentanyl.

Vang was the source of supply for David Stone III, who was distributing heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine in northwestern Wisconsin in 2019 and 2020. Vang worked with Stone and other members of the conspiracy to coordinate the transportation of drugs into Wisconsin for approximately five months. Vang’s relevant conduct included approximately 270 grams of methamphetamine and 75 grams of fentanyl/heroin.