Morning Headlines - Monday, Aug. 18, 2025 | 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 at the end for a little humor to go with your news!

U.S. and World Headlines

Trump Puts Onus On Zelenskyy To End Conflict With Russia Ahead Of Meeting

U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday the onus to end the war between Moscow and Kyiv is on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that Zelenskyy could “end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight.”

“Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE,” Trump added in the post, mirroring demands by the Kremlin for recognition of its annexation of Crimea and for Ukraine to be excluded from the NATO alliance.

Trump Stuns Wall Street, Washington With Controversial BLS Nominee

President Trump’s pick to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is breaking the mold of his predecessors and causing alarm among economists of all stripes.

Commissioners of the BLS are usually academics or career civil servants with decades of experience in statistics and economics.

But E.J. Antoni, whom Trump nominated to lead the agency after firing former BLS chief Erika McEntarfer on the heels of a disappointing jobs report earlier this month, has more bona fides as a pundit and conservative advocate than he does as a statistician.

State Department Stopping Issuance Of Visitor Visas For 'Individuals From Gaza'

The U.S. State Department has announced that it's suspending the issuance of all visitor visas for people from the war-torn Gaza Strip, including children in need of urgent medical care.

"All visitor visas for individuals from Gaza are being stopped while we conduct a full and thorough review of the process and procedures used to issue a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas in recent days," the State Department wrote in a post on X on Saturday.

Texas Democrats Who Fled The State To Block GOP Redistricting Push Begin Returning

Texas Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to deny a quorum and prevent a Republican redistricting plan are making their way back, each on their own timeline, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.

Dozens of Texas House Democrats fled to blue states earlier this month after President Trump suggested the state should redraw its U.S. House district maps to secure more Republican seats. The Democrats have until now remained out of the state to deny Texas' Republican Gov. Greg Abbott a quorum, temporarily derailing a special legislative session that the governor called to reshape the state's congressional maps.

Las Vegas' Growing Mosquito Problem Is 'A Ticking Time Bomb'

If at one time it was thought mosquitoes couldn’t survive in desert climates, this city is a case study in how wrong that is.

Mosquitoes typically prefer more tropical, humid conditions, but these biting machines have exploded in number throughout the Las Vegas Valley in recent years because of a host of changes.

A mix of urban development, climate change, insecticide resistance and genetic adaptations are creating a more hospitable environment for the insects in southern Nevada.

Republican Lawmakers Continue Push To Strip Federal Funding For Us Postal Service Electric Vehicles

A year after being lauded for its plan to replace thousands of aging, gas-powered mail trucks with a mostly electric fleet, the U.S. Postal Service is facing congressional attempts to strip billions in federal EV funding.

In June, the Senate parliamentarian blocked a Republican proposal in a major tax-and-spending bill to sell off the agency’s new electric vehicles and infrastructure and revoke remaining federal money. But efforts to halt the fleet’s shift to clean energy continue in the name of cost savings.

Eau Claire Woman Sentenced To 7 ½ Years For Illegally Possessing Firearm

Chadwick M. Elgersma, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that May X. Kong, 42, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 7 ½ years in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. The prison term will be followed by 3 years of supervised release. Kong pled guilty to this charge on May 7, 2025.

On July 4, 2024, Eau Claire police officers stopped a vehicle that Kong was riding in after it left the house of a known methamphetamine dealer. Inside the vehicle’s center console, officers found a loaded SCCY CPX-2 9mm handgun. Officers also found a small amount of methamphetamine. Kong admitted to police that the gun belonged to her. Kong is prohibited from legally possessing a firearm because of prior felony convictions.

Madison Must Make Changes After Uncounted Ballot Debacle, Elections Commission Says

The state’s elections commission has ordered Madison to make changes after nearly 200 absentee ballots went uncounted in last November’s election.

Madison’s city attorney, however, is arguing that the Wisconsin Elections Commission, or WEC, lacks the legal authority to issue such an order.

The city’s 193 untallied ballots would have not changed the outcome of any race or referendum. But a report from the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission blasted the Madison City Clerk’s office for a “confluence of errors” that led to the ballots being overlooked.

Manhunt Continues For Nathan Gossman In Wisconsin And Minnesota

A multi-day search continues for a Minnesota man who fled police during a high-speed chase in Viroqua and later allegedly stole a municipal vehicle, according to the Vernon County Sheriff's Office.

Nathan Gossman remains at large after the incident began Friday when Viroqua police received a call from a north side business reporting that a man with an outstanding warrant was at their location.

"Viroqua police have reported that their dispatch center received a call from a north side business here in the city Friday, with information that a male was at their business and there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest," Sheriff Togerson said.

Deer Hunter Discovers Rare Subtropical Wood Stork In The Wilds Of Wisconsin

A very rare and apparently very confused subtropical wood stork somehow found its way to the wilds of Wisconsin.

A hunter scouting for deer first sighted the bird Sunday in a remote section of the Mud Lake Wildlife Area in Columbia County, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) northeast of Madison, the state’s capital, said Horicon Marsh Bird Club President Jeff Bahls.

The hunter snapped some photos of the stork and sent them to Bahls, who doubles as a wildlife technician for the state Department of Natural Resources. Bahls confirmed that the bird in question was indeed a wood stork.