Morning Headlines - Friday, Apr. 7, 2023 | Recent News

U.S. and World Headlines

Republican lawmakers in Tennessee voted on Thursday to expel two Democratic legislators who joined a protest on the House floor last week after a deadly school shooting in Nashville. On March 30, protesters gathered at the State Capitol, and Democratic Reps. Justin Jones, Gloria Johnson and Justin Pearson led a chant of "power to the people" from the House floor.
On Thursday, lawmakers first voted 72-25 to expel Jones, 27, one of the youngest members of the legislature. The resolution to expel Johnson failed by one vote, 65 to 30. But Pearson, 28, was also expelled, in a 69-26 vote. The GOP supermajority had accused the representatives of breaking house rules on conduct and decorum.

The Biden administration is weighing an aggressive proposal to implement the tightest-ever federal regulations governing tailpipe emissions in an effort to boost electric vehicles.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to announce the new standards, which will impact cars manufactured between 2027-2032, next week during a ceremony in Detroit, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing officials briefed on the proposal. In a statement, the EPA confirmed the standards are designed to incentivize consumers to purchase electric vehicles (EV).

Israel said it struck targets belonging to the Palestinian militant group Hamas in southern Lebanon and Gaza early Friday, amid rising tension days after Israeli police stormed the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.
The launches came hours after dozens of rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory, a barrage the Israeli military blamed on Palestinian militants.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) international spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said Friday the Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon were focused mainly on Palestinian targets in the area from which they believe the rockets were launched into Israel.

A transgender teen is in custody after authorities say they recovered a manifesto detailing her plan to attack three schools and churches in Colorado just four days after Audrey Hale murdered six people at the Covenant School in Nashville.
William Whitworth, 19, who goes by the name Lilly and is referred to with female pronouns in arrest documents, was arrested on March 31. She was a student in the school district that she planned to attack between 2014 and 2016, authorities say.
In a manifesto that was recovered in her home, Whitworth called Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold 'losers,' said that Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza was 'smart' and that ex-President Donald Trump was a 'con man.' She was also in possession of The Communist Manifesto.

931 defendants have been charged with entering or remaining in a restricted federal building or grounds, including 102 who face charges for entering a restricted area with a dangerous or deadly weapon.
339 have been charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding officers or employees, including 107 who face charges for using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer.
308 have been charged with corruptly obstructing, influencing, or impeding an official proceeding, or attempting to do so.
55 have been charged with conspiracy, including conspiracy to obstruct a congressional proceeding, conspiracy to obstruct law enforcement during a civil disorder, conspiracy to injure an officer or some combination of the three.

Longtime liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley said she will seek a fourth 10-year term in 2025, when ideological control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court will again be on the ballot.
Bradley joined Justice-elect Janet Protasiewicz at her election night party and told several reporters there of her plans.
In a phone interview with WisPolitics.com late yesterday, Bradley confirmed she intends to run, but said a formal announcement will come down the road.
“I see this as Janet’s moment in the sun,” Bradley said. “Quite frankly, a formal announcement will have a bigger splash.”

Republican state lawmakers questioning whether a lack of political diversity on college campuses is hurting education discussed possible fixes — like considering political affiliation when hiring professors — during a legislative hearing Thursday.
The meeting follows a University of Wisconsin System student free speech survey that found a majority of conservative respondents reported self-censoring views in class.
Members of the State Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee heard testimony from three conservative students from UW-Madison, a retired political scientist from UW-La Crosse and director of the national Bipartisan Policy Center.

Following a bitter and expensive campaign, the 2023 election for an open seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court set a record for turnout in a spring election not during a presidential year.
On April 4, liberal candidate Janet Protasiewicz defeated the conservative candidate Daniel Kelly by 11 points – about 200,000 votes — a very wide gap for a state that has regularly seen elections decided by the slimmest of margins.
The race was the most expensive state Supreme Court battle in both Wisconsin and American history, after candidates and special interest groups poured more than $42 million into winning the decisive swing seat.
The issue of abortion played a central role in the campaign, as did the partisan affiliations of the candidates, with each expressing contempt for the other.

A transgender woman has been elected to office in Wisconsin for the first time.
Dina Nina Martinez-Rutherford was elected to Madison’s city council in a tight race. She won by 54 votes.
Martinez Rutherford says she decided to run for city council last November after seeing what she called a rise in transphobia spread across the United States.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced two Wisconsin airports will receive federal funding through the FAA Contract Tower Program for fiscal year 2023.
This funding, available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), will modernize airport control towers with current technology and other operational enhancements.
Central Wisconsin Airport in Mosinee will receive $608,000 and Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh will receive $200,000 for improved operations and safety.