Morning Headlines - Friday, Mar. 8, 2024 | Recent News

U.S. and World Headlines

Key Takeaways From Biden's Fiery State Of The Union Speech

There are worse places for a president to introduce the themes of his final campaign than in a primetime, nationally televised speech before a joint session of Congress.

So that's precisely what President Biden did Thursday night, capitalizing on the pomp and circumstance of his annual State of the Union address — and the massive media spotlight it commands — to frame the coming general election clash with his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, as an existential struggle over reproductive rights, America’s place in the world, the future of the middle class and even the integrity of U.S. democracy itself.

Key Moments From Sen. Katie Britt's Republican Response To 2024 State Of The Union

Alabama Sen. Katie Britt on Thursday delivered an impassioned criticism of President Biden and his administration's policies during the Republican response to his 2024 State of the Union address, seeking to use her rebuttal to draw a contrast to the president heading into the November general election and distinguish the GOP as the party that is better positioned to lead the nation.

In remarks delivered from her kitchen table at her house in Montgomery, Alabama, Britt denounced Mr. Biden's remarks in his third State of the Union, and lambasted the president for his policies on immigration, economics, crime and foreign policy.

Biden Announces 'Emergency' US Military Mission To Build Pier Off Gaza Coast To Deliver Aid

President Joe Biden announced an "emergency" military mission to construct a port in the Mediterranean Sea on Gaza's coast to get humanitarian aid in.

"I’m directing the U.S. military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the Gaza coast that can receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters," Biden said in his address to Congress from the U.S. Capitol.

Measles Outbreak Threatens US Status Of ‘Eliminating’ Virus

The rash of measles outbreaks around the country has sparked concerns that the U.S. risks losing its status as a country where the disease has been eliminated, a distinction held since 2000.

As of last week, 41 measles cases have been confirmed across 15 states and New York City, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That puts the nation already on track to surpassing the 58 total cases that were detected in 2023.

The Mystery Social Media Account Schooling Congress On How To Do Its Job

Earlier this year, Matt Glassman — a congressional scholar at Georgetown who has spent most of his adult life studying the Hill — wanted to know the answer to an obscure procedural question. “When was the last time a ruling of the chair was overturned on appeal in the House?” he asked on X, tagging an anonymous user named @ringwiss.

Less than a minute later, the mysterious account responded with an answer — 1938 — and a decades-old edition of the Congressional Record to prove it.

BLS Data: Wisconsin Sets New Records In Total State Jobs, Employment

The Department of Workforce Development (DWD) today released the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) job totals for January 2024, which showed Wisconsin's total nonfarm jobs, private jobs, and employment all hit new all-time highs.

The state added 5,100 nonfarm jobs and 4,700 private jobs, bringing both totals to historic highs, 3,026,900 and 2,621,000 respectively. The state also made gains in employment, increasing by 2,900 over the month and 29,300 over the year to a record 3,047,500. Wisconsin's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.2% in January, while the state's total labor force participation rate remained at 65.9%.

Conservation Groups Sue To Stop A Transmission Line From Crossing A Mississippi River Wildlife Refuge

A coalition of conservation groups filed a last-minute federal lawsuit seeking to stop plans to build the high-voltage Cardinal-Hickory transmission line across a Mississippi River wildlife refuge.

American Transmission Company, ITC Midwest and Dairyland Power Cooperative Inc. want to build a 102-mile, 345-kilovolt line linking Iowa’s Dubuque County and Wisconsin’s Dane County. The cost of the line is expected to top half a billion dollars but the utilities contend the project would improve electrical reliability across the region.

Documents Suggest Wisconsin Was Genesis Of Trump False Elector Plot

By the time Congress met on Jan. 6, 2021 to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election, the idea that lawmakers could plausibly overturn Joe Biden’s victory in favor of Donald Trump had spread like wildfire.

It picked up fuel in a handful of swing states, with the help of a spark in Wisconsin.

Documents released this week as part of a lawsuit settlement shed new light on Wisconsin’s role as a sort of test case for the false elector plot Trump’s campaign used in vain to try to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden. They include emails and texts between attorneys Jim Troupis and Kenneth Chesebro, whom Troupis enlisted to help with the Trump recount in Wisconsin.

Tiffany Is Only Wisconsin House Member To Vote Against First Half Of Appropriations Bills

The House yesterday passed the six-bill package 339-85 with bipartisan support, sending it to the Senate for action. The Senate and House will still have to approve another slate of federal funding bills with a deadline of March 22.

Tiffany ahead of the vote knocked the measure in a post on X.

“605 pages of earmarks, drafted behind closed doors, releases more illegal aliens, and includes higher spending levels than Pelosi. Americans are depending on us to end the Swamp’s status quo. House Republicans must hold the line,” Tiffany said.

Kevin Bacon, Runaway 450-Pound Pig, Lured Back To Wisconsin Pen With Oreos

Talk about colla-boar-ation.

A Wisconsin homeowner helped lure his neighbor’s runaway pig back home last week with a trail of Oreos.

The 450-pound porker, aptly named Kevin Bacon, had escaped his pigpen Friday sometime in the hours after his owner left for the weekend and wandered an entire mile down the road.