Morning Headlines - Friday, Aug. 7, 2026 | 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

Moon Base With UFOs? Avi Loeb Weighs In On Report

Harvard University astrophysicist Avi Loeb is casting doubt on a report from Ukrainian researchers who suggest the moon has a secret base for UFOs.

The group from the Main Astronomical Observatory near Kyiv say they reached their conclusion after analyzing high-speed photographs taken last summer. The Ukrainian team says they observed two types of anomalies: “atmospheric” objects that were stationary and “continental” objects that appeared to move over the moon’s surface.

“UFOs are observed on Earth and in near-Earth space. We believe that the moon serves as a base for UFOs,” researchers said in their study.

Iran’s Chief Negotiator Accuses Trump Of ‘Theater Diplomacy’ With Hormuz Traffic Near Standstill

Iran’s chief negotiator accused U.S. President Donald Trump of staging “theater diplomacy.”

Saudi Arabia is bracing for “multiple coordinated attacks” by Iraqi militia factions working with Iran-backed Houthis, according to CNN.

U.S. and Israeli ships would be barred from the Strait of Hormuz under Iran’s draft plan for managing the waterway.

Federal Regulations On Firearm Silencers, Some Guns Cannot Stand, Judge Rules

A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that some federal gun restrictions can no longer stand after Republicans last year zeroed out the taxes that justified their constitutionality.

Congress relied on its taxing authority to pass the 1934 National Firearms Act (NFA), which established a $200 fee to transfer or make certain firearms. But last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act eliminated the tax for short-barreled shotguns, short-barreled rifles and silencers.

U.S. District Judge Wesley Hendrix said that has “constitutional consequences.” The law’ registration and recordkeeping requirements for those guns can’t continue, he ruled.

Court Orders Meta To Pay $567M To Address Kids' Mental Health Online

A New Mexico court has ordered Instagram and Facebook parent company Meta to pay $567 million to address harms to young people from its platforms in the second phase of a landmark trial the social media giant lost in March.

In a late Thursday ruling, Judge Bryan Biedscheid said the bulk of the money — $420 million — will be used for treatment services for young people. The rest will go toward awareness and prevention, screening services and other costs over the next five years.

With Fox Backing Out Of Early NFL Negotiations, Will Other Networks Follow?

What's the likelihood that CBS, NBC, ESPN, and Prime Video strike early deals now that Fox has decided to wait until 2030?

Wisconsin’s Elections Commission Was Designed For Partisan Deadlock: Only One Side Is Playing The Game

The Wisconsin Elections Commission was never meant to be a neutral referee. It was deliberately built as a 3–3 partisan body so that Republicans and Democrats would fight for their respective interests and only reach agreement when both sides could live with the outcome. That design, based on a theory of adversarial balance, written into the enabling statute when the agency replaced the old Government Accountability Board, is now producing the opposite of fair election administration: one party aggressively advances its agenda while the other largely refuses to fight.

Crowley: Michigan Results Give Him Hope

Dem gubernatorial candidate David Crowley downplayed progressives’ win in the Michigan U.S. Senate primary, saying Michigan is “much different” than Wisconsin.

But the Milwaukee County exec, endorsed by Gov. Tony Evers in next week’s Dem primary, said the narrow margin by which progressive Abdul El-Sayed defeated Dem U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens gave him hope.

El-Sayed led Stevens by double digits in some polls ahead of Tuesday’s primary; in last week’s Marquette University Law School poll, state Rep. Francesca Hong held a 22-point lead over her nearest rival, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, while Crowley trailed in third. Barnes dropped out of the race last week, leaving four candidates in Tuesday’s primary. The other candidates are state Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, and former DOA Secretary Joel Brennan.

Wisconsin Head Start Association Voices Concerns After HHS Proposes Changes

Those with the Wisconsin Head Start Association are expressing concern as the Department of Health and Human Services proposed changes to the Head Start program.The changes could impact staffing, services for students with disabilities and family support.

“This notice of proposed rule making that came out today is really a dramati c overhaul of the regulations and rules that are kind of that operating manual for head start,” Jennie Mauer, executive director of the Wisconsin Head Start Association, said.

Head Start leaders said the changes could also upend systems that have improved school readiness for students for decades, as class sizes could grow, potentially hurting the quality of teaching and worsening ratios in the classroom.

3 Democrats Vie For Competitive Senate Seat That Could Determine Majority

Wisconsin Democrats’ efforts to flip control of the state Senate runs through just a handful of districts — and the most competitive of those will be in a newly-drawn district in southwest Wisconsin.

Democrats will need to flip two Senate seats, in addition to holding all of their own, if they want to take that chamber’s majority for the first full session in more than 15 years. It will be the second round of Senate elections since districts were redrawn in 2024, when Democrats flipped four Republican districts.

The 17th Senate District was redrawn from long and thin to something squatter and wider, in a way that could give Democrats an edge for the first time in many years.

Wisconsin County Man Sentenced to 18 Months in Federal Prison for Wire Fraud Involving Government Benefit Programs

Brad D. Schimel, First Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on July 31, 2026, United States District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller sentenced Antonio Franklin (age 47) to 18 months' imprisonment for wire fraud.

According to court filings, Franklin received benefits from three government programs: Title XVI disability benefits from the United States Social Security Administration; Wisconsin Supplemental Security Income from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services; and "I Respect, I Self-Direct" (IRIS) benefits, also administered by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Collectively, these programs are designed to assist individuals with disabilities and limited financial means in obtaining necessary food, shelter, and personal care services.

Franklin admitted that, during a scheme spanning from January 2020 through March 2025, he failed to disclose information to the government that would have affected his eligibility for these three programs. Specifically, Franklin admitted that he owned a bank account that he failed to disclose and that more than $1 million flowed through that account during the same period. Over the course of the more than five-year scheme, Franklin fraudulently received nearly $300,000 in government benefits to which he was not entitled.