Morning Headlines - Friday, Mar. 22, 2024 | Recent News

U.S. and World Headlines

GOP Faces Internal Battle Over Raising Age For Social Security

Republicans are battling among themselves over whether to push reforms to reduce Social Security spending, with some conservatives rallying around the idea of raising the retirement age.

Republicans pushing reforms to Social Security argue that raising the retirement age would not cut benefits and would be phased in slowly so as not to affect people near retirement age.

But others in the party warn that talking about delaying Social Security benefits in an election year is political malpractice and would give Democrats a golden opportunity to accuse GOP candidates of wanting to cut Social Security.

Donald Trump May Be About To Get $3 Billion Richer. But That Likely Won’t Solve His Cash Crunch

Former President Donald Trump is on the verge of a multi-billion dollar windfall at a time when he’s facing immense financial and legal pressure.

Trump Media & Technology Group, the owner of Trump’s struggling social media platform Truth Social, is on the cusp of going public as soon as next week following years of legal and regulatory obstacles.

If shareholders vote on Friday to approve Trump Media’s merger with a blank-check company, Trump will own a dominant stake in a public company, with shares worth more than $3 billion at current market prices.

Border Patrol Chief Says Tougher Policies Are Needed To Deter Migrants From Entering U.S. Illegally

In an interview on Thursday with CBS News, Border Patrol chief Jason Owens said the U.S. government needs to implement tougher immigration policies, including by jailing migrants, to deter unlawful crossings along the southern border.

"I think we need to take a look at the asylum laws and make it where only people that have a legitimate claim can claim asylum," Owens said in his first sit-down interview in English since assuming the top role at Border Patrol in June 2023. "I think that we need to be able to enforce the immigration laws that are on the books and hold people accountable whenever they choose to break the law."

Screens Are Poisoning Kids' Minds

A shocking number of American kids are sad, suicidal and stuck on small screens sucking away their zest for life.

This is the indisputable and alarming trend among American children, based on the latest polling and deep research by an NYU professor in a book out next week.

The pandemic is often cited as a driver of the teen mental health crisis, but it was brewing long before then. A growing body of research links the acceleration of the crisis to one of this century’s biggest events: the arrival of the smartphone.

6 Ways DOJ Says Apple Is A Monopoly

The Justice Department sued Apple this week, claiming the tech giant’s illegal monopolization of smartphone markets has hiked costs for users, developers, and others.

The DOJ and attorneys general from more than a dozen states accuse Apple of violating antitrust law across its mobile business by withholding key features of its iPhone at the expense of rival developers. The $2.6 trillion company enforces these restrictions through contractual provisions with software developers, their case argues.

Vos Says Trump Backers Seeking To Recall Him Don't Have Enough Signatures

Wisconsin’s top Republican lawmaker, who derided supporters of former President Donald Trump attempting to recall him from office as “whack jobs and morons,” on March 21 challenged the validity of thousands of signatures collected and declared the effort failed.

If the challenges are successful, there would be nowhere near enough valid signatures to force a recall election for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.

Deaths At Waupun Correctional Investigated By Journal Sentinel

Since June of last year, four inmates have died within the walls of the Waupun Correctional Institution. Action 2 News is learning more about the actions some inmates took to save one of the prisoners who died in October.

An eye-opening investigation by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reveals inmates begged the staff to help 24-year-old Cameron Williams but they say no one did.

Earlier this month, Action 2 News learned that 62-year-old Donald Maier died at Waupun Correctional Institution on February 22. He is the fourth inmate to die at the prison since last summer.

Wisconsin Political Ads Must Now Disclose If They Include AI-generated Content

Candidates and political groups will have to disclose when they use artificial intelligence to generate audio or video in ads aired in Wisconsin, according to a new law signed Thursday.

The bipartisan legislation comes in a national election year that some political experts say will be defined by AI-generated content and influence campaigns.

“This technology is not good or bad. Somebody can use AI to generate graphics to generate a jingle for a radio ad, to maybe make an animation that illustrates their views on the issues,” said Sen. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit, who co-authored the bipartisan bill. “But they can also use it to make it look like their opponent said and did something they didn’t.”

Attorney General Kaul Sues Apple For Monopolizing Smartphone Markets

Attorney General Josh Kaul, together with the U.S. Department of Justice and 15 other states and district attorneys general, filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against Apple for monopolization or attempted monopolization of smartphone markets in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act and Wisconsin antitrust law.

The complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, alleges that Apple illegally maintains a monopoly over smartphones by selectively imposing contractual restrictions on, and withholding critical access points from, developers.

Thefts On Menominee Indian Reservation Result In Prison Sentence For Keshena Man

Merwin J. “Pete” Wynos (age: 36), a former resident of Keshena and an enrolled member of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, received a sentence of 30 months in federal prison following a conviction for theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 661 and 1153(a).

The sentence, imposed on March 20, 2024, by Senior United States District Judge William C. Griesbach, was the result of a guilty plea entered by the defendant on January 16, 2024. Wynos will also face three years of supervised release once he completes his sentence.