Morning Headlines - Friday, Sept. 27, 2024 | Recent News

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 and the end for a little humor to go with your news!

U.S. and World Headlines

Helene Now Tropical Storm As It Moves Inland Over Georgia; More Than 2 Million Without Power

Hurricane Helene was a dangerous Category 4 storm when it made landfall over Florida's Big Bend area late Thursday night but weakened rapidly as it raced inland early Friday and was downgraded to a tropical storm in mere hours, the National Hurricane Center said. Still, Helene was bringing a "life-threatening" storm surge, strong winds and heavy rain, the center said.

Harris To Criticize Trump In Her 1st Visit To Border In More Than 3 Years

Vice President Kamala Harris will visit the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday -- her first trip there in more than three years -- to call for tougher security measures and attack former President Donald Trump on an issue that has plagued her, a senior campaign official said.

Independent Journalist Publishes Trump Campaign Document Hacked By Iran Despite Election Interference Concerns

An American journalist who runs an independent newsletter published a document Thursday that appears to have been stolen from Donald Trump’s presidential campaign — the first public posting of a file that is believed to be part of a dossier that federal officials say is part of an Iranian effort to manipulate the U.S. election.

Newsmax Reaches Settlement With Smartmatic Regarding 2020 Election Claims

On the brink of trial, the cable news channel Newsmax on Thursday reached a settlement with voting machine company Smartmatic, bringing an end to a defamation lawsuit that accused the network of spreading multiple false claims surrounding the 2020 election.

Meta's New AI-Made Posts Open A Pandora's Box

Meta's plan to generate synthetic content tailored to individual users — which attracted little notice this week amid a slew of product announcements — opens a whole new Pandora's box in an AI world already full of them. Generative AI has largely been used to create content at the behest of individual users, but now Facebook's parent company says it will proactively surface AI-generated posts based on users' interests.

Marathon County DA Pursues Investigation Of Wausau Mayor's Removal Of The City's Absentee Ballot Drop Box

A Wisconsin district attorney said Sept. 26 that her office is pursuing an investigation into the removal of an absentee ballot drop box by the mayor of Wausau. Mayor Doug Diny removed the drop box, located outside of City Hall, on Sept. 22 and distributed a picture of himself doing it while wearing worker’s gloves and a hard hat. Diny is a conservative opponent to drop boxes. He insists he did nothing wrong.

Wisconsin DOC: Nonprofit Can No Longer Send Used Books To Prisoners

A Madison-based nonprofit has stopped sending free books to Wisconsin prisoners after the state’s Department of Corrections imposed new restrictions. Since its inception in 2006, Wisconsin Books to Prisoners has sent more than 70,000 books to people locked up across the state. But earlier this year, prison officials told the group of volunteers they had to stop their longstanding practice of mailing gently-used books to inmates who request them.

Why TV Stations Have To Air All Those Political Ads And Yes, The Graphic Ones Too

Randall Terry is a name that will be on the Wisconsin ballot this November. He's running for president under the Constitution Party - but is pushing for former President Donald Trump to win. Terry has said he has no intention of even becoming president. He said he wants to 'deliver Wisconsin to President Trump,' and isn't worried about taking votes away from Trump, as long as it is a vote taken away from Vice President Kamala Harris. Above all, he wanted to get on the ballot to have the privilege granted by the FCC to air his political advertisements on television.

GOP Lawmakers Vote Not To Fund Increased Costs Of New License Plate Law

Lawmakers in the powerful Joint Finance Committee voted Thursday to approve almost a million dollars for the Department of Transportation to issue license plates — far short of what the agency says it needs to meet requirements. The vote is tied to a GOP-authored law, passed almost unanimously and implemented in 2022, requiring Wisconsin drivers to replace their license plates every seven years and changing manufacturing requirements. The DOT requested nearly $6 million to cover associated costs.

Eastern Equine Encephalitis Confirmed In Marathon County Horse

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) has confirmed that an unvaccinated 2-year-old gelding in Marathon County has tested positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE). It is the state's first confirmed case of EEE in a horse this year. DATCP has not had a reported case of EEE in Wisconsin since 2021, but cases have been reported in other states this year.