Morning Headlines - Friday, Jun. 2, 2023

U.S. and World Headlines

Senate Passes Debt Ceiling Bill, Sending It To Biden To Become Law And Avert Disaster

The Senate voted Thursday night to pass a bill that would extend the debt ceiling for two years and establish a two-year budget agreement on a broad bipartisan vote.

The vote was 63-36.

Having already cleared the House on Wednesday, it now goes to President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign it and avert an economically catastrophic debt default with mere days to spare before Monday's deadline.

Economy Adds 339K Jobs In May, Blowing Past Expectations

The U.S. added 339,000 jobs in May and the unemployment rate rose to 3.7 percent, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department.

The job market scrambled the expectations of economists in May.

Expert forecasters projected a gain of roughly 195,000 jobs last month, according to consensus estimates, but for the jobless rate to stay largely even at 3.5 percent.

The jobless rate has bounced between 3.4 percent — its level in April — and 3.7 percent since March 2022.

The Labor Department also revised March and April’s job gains up by a combined 93,000 jobs, the latest sign of the job market’s resilience as the broader economy slows.

Trump-DeSantis Feud Gets Ugly Fast

Shortly after Ron DeSantis snapped at a reporter who questioned his limited voter engagement during a swing through New Hampshire on Thursday, his chief primary rival tried to one up him.

Donald Trump made a crack about his opponents’ fear of the media and proceeded to field 20 minutes of questions from reporters in Iowa, drawing an immediate contrast to his protege turned foe. Elsewhere, a super PAC backing DeSantis drove a bus that mockingly followed Trump around the state. And DeSantis all but accused Trump of failing to push through a sufficiently sweeping conservative agenda during his four years in office, while ripping the former president for his “juvenile” use of derisive nicknames.

Fort Bragg Becoming Latest Base To Get Name Change Because Name Honored Confederate Figure

Fort Bragg will shed its Confederate namesake to become Fort Liberty in a Friday ceremony that some veterans view as a small but important step in making the U.S. Army more welcoming to current and prospective Black service members.

The change is part of a broad Department of Defense initiative, motivated by the 2020 George Floyd protests, to rename military installations bearing the name of Confederate soldiers.

Jeffrey Epstein Called Himself A Coward And Sent A Letter To Fellow Convicted Pedophile Dr. Larry Nassar In The Final Days Before He Killed Himself

In the weeks leading up to his death by suicide, billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein reached out to another disgraced abuser: Larry Nassar, the U.S. gymnastics team doctor convicted of sexually abusing scores of athletes.

The letter is part of newly uncovered records from Epstein's stay at the Metropolitan Correctional Center after his July 2019 arrest on federal sex trafficking charges.

They come just days after DailyMail.com released its own uncovered Epstein Files, A vast trove of his private calendars and emails which detailed the billionaire's connections to Chris Rock, Peter Thiel, and Richard Branson, among many others.

Wisconsin Headlines

Wisconsin Lawmakers Vote To Spend $2 Million To Stage 2025 NFL Draft In Green Bay

Wisconsin lawmakers voted Thursday to approve spending $2 million to help stage the 2025 NFL draft in Green Bay.

The Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee voted along party lines to include the funding in the two-year state budget it is drafting. The budget will need to be approved by the full Legislature, likely to happen later this month or early in July, and signed by Gov. Tony Evers before taking effect.

United States Files Trespass Lawsuit Against Town Of Lac Du Flambeau

The federal government is suing the Town of Lac du Flambeau for knowingly trespassing on land owned by the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. It's the latest court action in a protracted dispute over town roads crossing reservation property.

The lawsuit alleges the town failed to renew expired right of way easements for four roads that provide access to homes within the reservation owned by non-native residents. Those easements, approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the tribe in the 1960s, expired between 2011 and 2018.

The United States is seeking declaratory judgment that the town knowingly violated federal law, unspecified damages and the potential "ejectment from further unauthorized and unlawful use" of the tribe's property.

How DSPS Is Catching Up With Wisconsin's Licensing Backlog

Dan Hereth would like his state agency to be a little less visible, and he thinks the way to do that is to show up more often.

“We’ve been doing roundtables all over the state. I think we’ve done nearly a dozen of them,” said Hereth, who is the secretary-designee of the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services.

For the first ten years of its existence, the only people who thought about DSPS were the workers that needed to send in their credentials to become professionally licensed in Wisconsin — everyone from accountants to welders, with barbers, doctors and nurses in between.

“If you didn’t have to engage with this DSPS, you didn’t know who they were. Well, that’s how we like it,” said Hereth.

Marathon County Man Sentenced To 9 Years For Methamphetamine Trafficking & Illegal Gun Possession

A United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Lawrence E. Lavergne, 41, Wausau, Wisconsin was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 9 years in federal prison for distributing 5 grams or more of methamphetamine and possessing a firearm as a felon. The prison term will be followed by 8 years of supervised release. Lavergne pleaded guilty to these charges on February 14, 2023.

On February 21, 2022, Lavergne sold 24 grams of methamphetamine to a confidential informant in a hotel room in Rothschild.

Later that day, Central Wisconsin Narcotics Task Force officers executed a search warrant at the same hotel room. When officers announced themselves at the door, Lavergne leapt out of the second story hotel room window. He was taken into custody and had over $7,000 in cash on him, including $500 in prerecorded buy money from the drug deal earlier that day. A total of 233 grams of methamphetamine were located in the hotel room along with drug trafficking paraphernalia.

The day after Lavergne’s arrest, a woman contacted law enforcement to report that there were two firearms at her house in Antigo, Wisconsin that she believed belonged to Lavergne. Officers responded and located a Hi-Point 9mm handgun, a Masterpiece Arms 9mm handgun, two loaded magazines, and a container with 9mm ammunition. Lavergne’s DNA was found on both handguns. Lavergne was legally prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition based on multiple prior felony convictions. The firearms charge was filed in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, then transferred to the Western District when the defendant pleaded guilty.

DNR Reminds Boaters, Anglers To Help Keep Wisconsin's Waters Healthy

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reminds boaters and anglers to help protect Wisconsin's rivers, streams and lakes during this weekend's Drain Campaign.

The annual Drain Campaign, June 2-4, focuses on the importance for boaters and anglers to always drain their livewells and fish buckets before leaving boat launches and fishing access points. Boat inspectors from Clean Boats, Clean Waters will be at boat launches across the state promoting draining and handing out blue boat towels printed with the “Drain Your Catch” message.