Morning Headlines - Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024

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

What We Know About Luigi Mangione, Ivy League Grad Charged In CEO's Murder

A University of Pennsylvania graduate has been charged with murder in the targeted attack of Brian Thompson, the CEO of major insurance group UnitedHealthcare who was fatally shot outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel ahead of an investor conference, according to the NYPD.

Luigi Mangione was charged in the fatal shooting after he was arrested Monday in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after an individual at a McDonald's recognized him from the wildly circulated images of the suspect sought in the shooting.

Israel's Netanyahu Takes Stand In Corruption Trial As War In Gaza Grinds, Neighboring Syria's Dictator Falls

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the stand Tuesday in his long-running trial for alleged corruption, setting off what's expected to be a weekslong spectacle that will draw unwelcome attention to his legal woes as he faces an international arrest warrant for war crimes and the fighting in Gaza continues.

It is the first time a sitting Israeli prime minister takes the stand as a criminal defendant, an embarrassing milestone for a leader who has tried to cultivate an image as a sophisticated and respected statesman.

Congress Races Toward Fast-Approaching Government Shutdown Deadline

Congress has just 10 days until government funding is set to run out, and lawmakers don’t have a deal to keep the lights on during the holidays.

Members on both sides of the aisle expect the government will stay open past the Dec. 20 shutdown deadline. But negotiators are keeping their colleagues guessing how that will be achieved as funding talks enter a critical stretch.

World's Oldest Ten Commandments Tablet Expected To Sell For Biblical Price At Auction

The world's oldest stone tablet bearing the Ten Commandments is headed to auction.

On Dec. 18, Sotheby's will be auctioning off the so-called Yavne Tablet, a 114-pound marble slab engraved with the Ten Commandments in Paleo-Hebrew script. Measuring approximately 24 inches long, 22 inches wide, and 2 inches thick, the stone is inscribed with 20 lines of script spelling out the Mosaic Decalogue.

Fortnite And Other Epic Games Customers Are About To Get A $72 Million Refund. Here's Why

Fortnite players and other Epic Games customers tricked by the game maker into making unwanted purchases are set to receive refund payments from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).  

As part of a settlement, the video game maker has been ordered by the FTC to pay $245 million to resolve allegations that it used unlawful billing practices involving design tricks known as dark patterns to get players to unintentionally rack up charges. It is the largest ever refund amount in a gaming case, the agency said.

The FTC says it is sending more than 629,000 payments Monday, with more disbursements to come at a later date.

Wisconsin Headlines

Evers He Won’t Sign Budget With Vos Proposal To Require State Employees To Work From Office

Gov. Tony Evers says he won’t sign the next state budget if a GOP proposal requiring state employees back in the office is included in the final proposal.

“No, no, no. It’s working,” Evers said in a wide-ranging interview on WISN’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “We’ve heard for years the idea that someone — it’s not fair that so many of the people that work for the state of Wisconsin came from Madison, Milwaukee area. Well, we went out of our way when we, you know, during the pandemic and post-pandemic, to hire people in Rhinelander and all sorts of different places in the state because we knew they can work from home or work from an office that’s remote from Madison.”

Wisconsin Republicans Sue Over Conflict When Electoral College Votes Must Be Cast

Wisconsin Republicans have filed a lawsuit seeking a court order to resolve a discrepancy between state and federal law about what date the state’s presidential electors must meet to cast Wisconsin’s 10 Electoral College votes for President-elect Donald Trump.

State law calls for the electors to meet on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is Dec. 16. But federal law requires the meeting to be the first Tuesday following the second Wednesday, which is Dec. 17 this year.

U.S. Supreme Court Refuses To Hear Eau Claire Schools Gender Policy Challenge

School leaders in Eau Claire are not going to have to defend their gender policy to the United States Supreme Court.

The high court on Monday refused to hear a challenge to the policy that allows teachers and administrators to keep gender transitions at school secret from their parents.

Three judges, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas, agreed to take the case but they needed a fourth.

Alito said the heart of the case, whether schools violate parents’ rights when they encourage or allow secret, at-school gender transition, is “a question of great and growing national importance.”

Madison Teachers ‘Demand’ Union Contract In Wake Of Act 10 Decision

In a closed session meeting Monday night, the Madison Metropolitan School District’s Board of Education will discuss its options following a ruling from a Dane County judge that restores collective bargaining rights to public sector workers.

The agenda for the meeting contains just a few items, most of which are approving minutes from previous meetings. But the last item before adjournment is “[c]onsidering demand for collective bargaining for all bargaining units represented by Madison Teachers Inc.”

Registered Sex Offender From Minnesota Indicted For Attempting To Sexually Exploit A 12-Year-Old Child

Gregory J. Haanstad, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on November 19, 2024, a federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment against Matthew W. Tolkinen (age: 53) of Wadena, Minnesota.

According to court documents, Tolkinen engaged in a conversation with an undercover law enforcement officer from the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Office who was posing online as a 12-year-old girl. During the conversation, Tolkinen repeatedly described his desire to have sex with the child, whom he believed was in school. In the conversation, Tolkinen also described his plan in graphic detail, requested naked photographs of the child, represented that the child could not get pregnant, and warned the child that the planned sexual activity was going to be painful.