Morning Headlines - Friday, May 16, 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

5 Takeaways From Birthright Citizenship Argument At Supreme Court

The Supreme Court mulled whether judges should be allowed to extend injunctive relief to the entire country in a lively argument Thursday stemming from President Trump’s efforts to narrow birthright citizenship.

The practice of issuing nationwide — or “universal” — injunctions drew both criticism and staunch defense from the justices, as the argument bled into the actual constitutionality of Trump’s order and whether the administration would abide by court precedents.

Here are five takeaways from the argument: 

US Cable Giants Charter And Cox Pursue $34.5 Billion Merger

Charter Communications and Cox Communications will pursue a $34.5 billion merger, a tie-up that would combine two of the largest cable companies in the U.S.

Charter said Friday that it will acquire Cox Communications’ commercial fiber and managed IT and cloud businesses. Cox Enterprises will contribute Cox Communications’ residential cable business to Charter Holdings, an existing subsidiary partnership of Charter.

Ex-FBI Boss James Comey Investigated For Seashell Photo Seen As Threat To Trump

Former FBI director James Comey is being investigated by the Secret Service after he shared then deleted a social media post, which Republicans alleged was an incitement to violence against President Donald Trump.

Comey posted on Instagram a photo of seashells that spelled the numbers "8647", which he captioned: "Cool shell formation on my beach walk."

The number 86 is a slang term whose definitions include 'to reject' or 'to get rid of', according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, which also notes that it has more recently been used as a term meaning 'to kill'.

Memorial Day Weekend Travel Forecast: What You Need To Know

A record number of Americans are gearing up to head to the airport or hit the highway for the first long weekend of the summer.

AAA forecasts more than 45 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home between Thursday, May 22, and Monday, May 26, which would break the Memorial Day weekend travel record set in 2005.

Here’s what you need to know:

Fortnite Is Now Offline On Ios Worldwide As Apple Blocks Game, Epic Games Says

Fortnite is now unavailable on iOS globally, Epic Games said Friday, after Apple blocked a bid to reinstate the popular game on the App Store in the U.S.

“Apple has blocked our Fortnite submission so we cannot release to the US App Store or to the Epic Games Store for iOS in the European Union,” the official account or Fortnite wrote in a post on social media platform X. “Now, sadly, Fortnite on iOS will be offline worldwide until Apple unblocks it.”

Wisconsin Headlines

Senate Sends Bill Creating Commercial Courts To Evers

The state Senate today signed off on legislation that would create specialized courts that would exclusively handle business cases.

The bill, which next heads to the guv’s desk, comes after the liberal majority on the state Supreme Court discontinued a pilot program that utilized commercial courts for business cases that included disputes over governance or internal affairs.

State Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, knocked the proposal, saying it would allow wealthy Wisconsinites to get “their own hand-picked judges while the rest of us wait for our day in court.”

Republicans And Democrats Spar On State Budget Spending

One of the main tasks state lawmakers are focused on right now is crafting and passing a state budget. 

Governor Tony Evers announced his budget priorities earlier this year, but legislative Republicans stripped much of that spending last week. 

On Thursday, Senate Democrats accused Republicans of ignoring the issues people in Wisconsin care about in the budget. Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee) said in a press conference that she thinks the state should spend more on schools, child care and clean water.

Milwaukee Judge Pleads Not Guilty To Federal Charges Over Immigration Enforcement

A Wisconsin judge pleaded not guilty on May 15 to charges accusing her of helping a man who is illegally in the country evade U.S. immigration authorities seeking to arrest him in her courthouse.

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan entered the plea during a brief arraignment in federal court. Magistrate Judge Stephen Dries scheduled a trial to begin July 21. Dugan’s lead attorney, Steven Biskupic, told the judge that he expects the trial to last a week.

Wisconsin Job Numbers Show Slight Dip In April

The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) released new employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) that show a slight dip in job numbers for April 2025. 

Preliminary estimates from the BLS show Wisconsin's unemployment rate is at 3.3%. That is still slightly lower than the national average, which was 4.2% for April. 

2025 DNR Spring Hearing Statewide Results Now Available

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) today announced that the 2025 Spring Hearing questions and results are now available.

Just over 9,000 people responded to the 2025 Spring Hearing questionnaire either in person on April 14 or online from April 14 to 16. Questions included topics ranging from fishing bag limit changes on individual waterbodies to building accessible cabins at state-managed properties and extending the fall turkey season in specific zones. The full list of questions and results is available on the DNR website.