Morning Headlines - Friday, Mar. 7, 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

Trump Expands Exemptions From Canada And Mexico Tariffs

US President Donald Trump has signed orders significantly expanding the goods exempted from his new tariffs on Canada and Mexico that were imposed this week.

It is the second time in two days that Trump has rolled back his taxes on imports from the US's two biggest trade partners, measures that have raised uncertainty for businesses and worried financial markets.

On Wednesday, he said he would temporarily spare carmakers from 25% import levies just a day after they came into effect.

U.S. Will Collapse Iran’s Economy By Shutting Down Its Oil Industry, Treasury Secretary Says

President Donald Trump’s sanctions against Iran are designed to shut down the country’s oil industry and “collapse its already buckling economy,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday.

The U.S. is deploying sanctions against Iran aggressively for “immediate maximum impact,” Bessent told the Economic Club of New York. Trump’s goal is to slash Iran’s oil exports of 1.5 million barrels per day to a trickle, the Treasury secretary said.

Kamala Harris Gets Serious About Whether To Run For California Governor

Former Vice President Kamala Harris is seriously considering a run for governor of California — and has given herself a deadline to decide.

At a pre-Oscars party last weekend, Harris was asked by another partygoer when she would make a decision about jumping into the California governor’s race. She gave a definitive answer, according to two people with knowledge of the conversation: the end of the summer.

And in calls to supporters, allies and trusted aides in recent weeks, Harris has made clear that she plans to make a decision in a few months.

Newsom Calls Trans Athletes Playing In Women’s Sports ‘Deeply Unfair’

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said he believes transgender athletes participating in girls’ and women’s sports is “deeply unfair,” breaking with Democrats on an issue that has become one of the party’s most politically fraught.

Newsom made the comments on the inaugural episode of his podcast, “This is Gavin Newsom,” featuring Charlie Kirk, a conservative political activist and co-founder and executive director of Turning Point USA, an organization that brings conservative politics to high school and college campuses.

How The FDA Lets Chemicals Pour Into America's Food Supply

The FDA's restraints on food ingredients are limited and relatively feeble, especially compared with those in Europe, a KFF Health News examination found. There are at least 950 substances in our food that are not permitted in Europe, according to one expert's estimate, and chemicals linked to health concerns show up in hundreds of products that line the shelves of American supermarkets.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new head of the Department of Health and Human Services, has railed about the risks of food additives for years and has said he wants to end "the mass poisoning of American children." At a March 6 confirmation hearing, Martin Makary, President Trump's nominee to head the FDA, expressed concern about foods "with a lot of molecules that do not appear in nature."

Wisconsin Headlines

Wisconsin Judge Refuses To Block Slender Man Attacker's Release From Psychiatric Hospital

A Wisconsin judge on Thursday refused to block a psychiatric hospital from releasing a woman who stabbed her sixth-grade classmate to please a horror character called Slender Man more than a decade ago after prosecutors alleged she has been quietly reading gory novels and communicating with a man who collects memorabilia from murderers.

Morgan Geyser has spent the last seven years at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute. Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren in January ordered her released after state and county health officials completed a community supervision and housing plan.

How Attack Ads In Elections For Judges Can Affect Sentencing

If voters are only getting information about the 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates through attack ads, they would think both judges are happy to give light sentences to pedophiles and domestic abusers.

Many campaign ads focus on sentencing decisions, and that can impact how all judges in Wisconsin rule from the bench.

Wisconsin High School Graduation Rate Reaches Record High

Wisconsin’s high school graduation rate has reached a record high, according to numbers released by the Department of Public Instruction on Thursday.

The new numbers showed that 91.1% of students graduated on time last year.

Chronic absenteeism also fell to about 17%, the lowest rate since the 2020-2021 school year, while attendance rates rose to the highest level since that same year.

Marquette Poll Finds Spring Candidates Largely Unknown, Voters Split On Trump

Voters are still largely unfamiliar with the candidates for the Wisconsin Supreme Court and state superintendent a month out from the April 1 election, a new Marquette University Law School poll shows.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is slightly underwater with Wisconsin voters after his first month in office — the same spot he was in during almost all of his first term.

Looking at the spring races, 38% of registered voters didn’t have an opinion of Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Brad Schimel, the conservative running for state Supreme Court who spent four years as attorney general. Fifty-eight percent didn’t have an opinion of his liberal rival, Susan Crawford, who was elected to the Dane County Circuit Court in 2018.

Likewise, 64% didn’t have an opinion of state Superintendent Jill Underly, while 71% said the same of Brittany Kinser, a reading consultant.

Steil: Most Wisconsin Sheriffs, Police Departments Cooperating On Immigration

Most of Wisconsin’s sheriffs and police departments are working with the Trump Administration on the new rules for illegal immigrant criminals. But Congressman Bryan Steil said there’s an issue with one of the ones that’s not.

Steil was on News Talk 1130 WISN on Thursday, and talked about Dane County’s long resistance to working with anyone in Washington, D.C. on deporting or flagging people who are in the country illegally who commit crimes.