Morning Headlines - Monday, Mar. 10, 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

Oil Tanker And Cargo Ship Collide Off Coast Of England

An oil tanker and a cargo ship collided off the coast of eastern England on Monday and a major rescue operation is underway, Britain's coast guard said.

Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency said several lifeboats and a coast guard rescue helicopter were dispatched to the scene in the North Sea, along with a coast guard plane and nearby vessels with firefighting capability.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution said "there were reports that a number of people had abandoned the vessels following a collision and there were fires on both ships." It said three lifeboats were working on search and rescue at the scene alongside the coast guard.

Sec. Of State Rubio Says Purge Of USAID Programs Complete, 83% Of Programs Gone

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday the Trump administration had finished its six-week purge of programs of the six-decade-old U.S. Agency for International Development, and said he would move the 18% of aid and development programs that survived under the State Department.

Rubio made the announcement in a post on X. It marked one of his relatively few public comments on what has been a historic shift away from U.S. foreign aid and development, executed by Trump political appointees at State and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency teams.

Johnson Looks To Pass Stopgap As Government Shutdown Deadline Looms

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is looking to lock down the votes to pass his stopgap funding bill and avert a government shutdown by Friday’s deadline, as he works to keep the lights on in Washington during the beginning weeks of President Trump’s second term.

Johnson unveiled a continuing resolution Saturday that would keep the government funded until Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. The stopgap would boost defense funding and cut nondefense programs.

Kugler Says Fed Should Hold Interest Rates Amid Inflation Risks

Inflation could prove sticky while prices might pick up again, Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler warned, signaling that the U.S. central bank should keep interest rates steady for the time.

“I’m actually quite concerned about some of the persistence in inflation that we have been seeing,” she said at a conference late on Friday.

In prepared remarks, Kugler also said that it “could be appropriate” for the Federal Reserve to hold interest rates steady “for some time.”

US Orders Non-Emergency Staff To Leave South Sudan As Tensions Rise

The United States has ordered all its non-emergency staff in South Sudan to leave, amid rising tensions in the country.

Fighting in recent days has threatened an already fragile peace deal between President Salva Kiir and Vice-President Riek Machar.

The two leaders signed a peace agreement in 2018 to end a five-year civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people, but their relationship has remained fraught.

On Sunday, the US State Department said that fighting was ongoing in South Sudan between various political and ethnic groups and that "weapons are readily available to the population".

Wisconsin Headlines

Flabbergasted Wisconsin Elections Officials To Depose Madison Workers Over Uncounted Ballots

Wisconsin election officials voted Friday to force Madison city workers to sit for depositions as they try to learn more about how nearly 200 absentee ballots in November’s election went uncounted.

The uncounted ballots in the state’s capital city didn’t affect any results, but the Wisconsin Elections Commission still launched an investigation in January to determine whether Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl violated state law or abused her discretion. She didn’t notify the elections commission of the uncounted ballots until December, almost a month and a half after the election and well after the results were certified on Nov. 29.

AG Kaul Moves For Temporary Restraining Order To Stop Mass Firings And Seek Reinstatement Of Federal Probationary Employees

Attorney General Josh Kaul joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general that moved for a temporary restraining order for numerous federal agencies, asking that a federal court order them to cease the illegal mass layoffs of federal probationary employees, and to reinstate those who have been fired.

“With its unlawful mass firings of probationary federal employees, the Trump administration has undermined important services and carelessly upended the lives of veterans, scientists, and many other public servants,” said AG Kaul. “These workers’ rights should be protected, and the Trump administration should be required to follow the law.”

Brad Schimel And Republican Supporters Reach Out To Trump Voters In Wisconsin Supreme Court Race

After a liberal blowout in the 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court race, this year’s conservative candidate, Brad Schimel, says his campaign won’t make the same mistakes.

Schimel, the state’s former Republican attorney general, is embracing politics in ways the last conservative who ran for the court did not. He’s accepting money from the state Republican Party, getting help from Elon Musk and has presented the stakes of the race in more than just legal terms, framing it as part of a battle between good and evil.

Wisconsin Democrats Hold 'People Vs. Musk' Town Hall To Issue Call To Action For The 2025 Spring Election

They came to vent and to cry and to exhort.

The overflow crowd of frustrated Democrats who met this week in a small Wisconsin city’s library voiced anger over President Donald Trump, his billionaire adviser Elon Musk and the direction of the country. One person called for riots. Another said he was embarrassed to be an American.

But their barbs weren’t limited to Republicans.

University Of Wisconsin Women's Basketball Head Coach Marisa Moseley Steps Down From Position

Wisconsin's women's basketball head coach Marisa Moseley has resigned from her position, according to UW Director of Athletics Chris McIntosh. 

Associate head coach Margaret McKeon will take over as interim head coach of the program. 

"I notified Chris McIntosh of my decision to resign for personal reasons," Moseley said. "It has been a privilege to lead the program at Wisconsin. I am grateful for the student-athletes, coaches and staff in our program who have put in so much time and effort. I am appreciative, also, of the Badger fans who supported us at the Kohl Center and around the country."