Morning Headlines - Friday, May 12, 2023

U.S. and World Headlines

Title 42 Expires: U.S. Braces As Migrants Try To Evade Border Patrol As Covid Restrictions Are Dropped

Hours after the Biden administration insisted its new border immigration strategy would be a success, the stream of migrants crossing on to U.S. soil showed no sign of slowing in Yuma, Arizona.

As the clock ticked down to the end of Title 42, a group of about 50 Peruvians came around the edge of the towering border wall at a run.

One slowed to a trot to shout a question: 'Where's Border Patrol?' Then they were off again trying to escape into the night before a new shift arrived in this dusty corner of south-western America.

Border cities braced this week for the end of Title 42 - a pandemic-era regulation that allowed migrants to be sent straight back to Mexico without even applying for asylum.

It officially ended a minute before midnight eastern time on Thursday. 

John Brennan's Closed-Door Hearing 'Confirmed' Hunter Laptop Letter Was 'All Political': Jim Jordan

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told Fox News the testimony his panel heard in private from Obama-era CIA Director John Brennan "confirmed" the letter signed by 51 current and former intel officials was not on-the-level.

"[Brennan] sat for a four-hour interview and he further confirmed that this thing was all political," Jordan said on "Jesse Watters Primetime."

Jordan recounted his allegation that then-Biden campaign adviser Antony Blinken was the "impetus" behind the letter, which he said was organized in-part by former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell, who testified before the Judiciary Committee earlier in May.

GOP Senators Disavow Trump On Debt Ceiling, Signaling Growing Rift

Senate Republicans are disavowing former President Trump’s call to let the federal government default on its debts unless President Biden agrees to “massive” spending cuts, dismissing Trump’s suggestion as something far too risky to seriously consider.

The cold reception to Trump’s bold statement is the latest sign of the widening rift between Trump and his party’s Washington establishment.

While Trump maintains strong influence in the House, where he helped Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) nail down enough votes to be elected Speaker, it’s a different story in the Senate.

Federal Judge In Virginia Rules 18-To-20-Year-Olds Can't Be Prohibited From Buying Handguns

A federal judge in Virginia invalidated a set of federal restrictions that prohibit people under the age of 21 years old from purchasing a handgun from federally licensed firearm dealers, finding the rules violate the Second Amendment.

In a 65-page decision issued Wednesday, U.S. Senior District Judge Robert Payne ruled in favor of four men who are over the age of 18 but not yet 21 and want to purchase handguns. One of the men, John "Corey" Fraser, attempted to buy a Glock 19x handgun from a federal firearm licensed dealer in May 2022, but was denied the purchase because of his age.

The four men challenged federal laws and regulations from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that prohibit the sale of handguns by federally licensed dealers to prospective buyers ages 18 to 20, arguing it does not comport with the Second Amendment.

Cramming AI Into Search Results Proves Google Has Forgotten What Made It Good

In the aftermath of Google’s I/O event, there’s a lot to get excited about - from Google’s first foray into foldable phones with the Pixel Fold to improvements to Bard, Google’s pet AI chatbot.

But it’s not chatbots that intrigued me at I/O; no, Google has more insidious plans for AI than a conversational companion that can now generate images. Search Generative Experience (SGE), a feature arriving with Google’s new ‘Search Labs’ testing platform, promises (or threatens?) to change the way we use search engines forever - and I’m worried about that.

In short, you can now get what Google calls an ‘AI snapshot’ when you search for something: a box that appears above the standard search results and does its best to provide an AI-generated answer to your query.

Wisconsin Headlines

Vos Knocks Evers’ Appointment Of Lasry To Tech College Board

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, is knocking Gov. Tony Evers for appointing former Dem U.S. Senate candidate Alex Lasry to the Wisconsin Technical College System Board.

Evers late yesterday announced the appointment of Lasry, a former senior VP for the Milwaukee Bucks. He also named two others to the board: Janixa Franco Gonzales, a special education paraprofessional for the Pewaukee School District who is getting her degree in early childhood education from Waukesha County Technical College; and Lindsay Blumer, president and CEO of WRTP I BIG STEP.

The guv also reappointed Quincey Daniels, owner of Dr. Daniels and Education Consulting. He’s also a former senior lecturer at Waukesha County Technical College.

Wisconsin Leaders Are Fighting Over The Shared Revenue Program, But What’s At Stake?

The battle over Wisconsin’s Shared Revenue Program has been simmering for decades, but over the last week that simmer turned to a boil with the release of the legislature's proposed changes to the program. Although the proposal would increase funding to communities throughout the state, these funds come with some major strings attached, including changes to how local democracy works in Milwaukee.

Philip Rocco is an associate professor of political science at Marquette University, and he’s been studying the GOP proposal along with a dueling proposal from Governor Evers.

He explains that shared revenue from the state is the second largest source of revenue for local governments behind the property tax and is used to fund services including: police, fire departments, libraries and parks. The fund was originally created as a compromise between the state and local governments, allowing the state to control the majority of tax funds in Wisconsin, but redistributing the money to communities most impacted by this loss of local tax control.

Bipartisan Plan To Change How Wisconsin Children Learn To Read Expected This Month

A bipartisan bill is expected to be released this month that would change the way most public schools in Wisconsin teach reading.

State Rep. Joel Kitchens, R-Sturgeon Bay, who chairs the Assembly Committee on Education, has been working with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction on the plan that would move more schools away from teaching what is known as "balanced literacy," to a "science of reading" approach.

Instead of being taught reading through pictures, word cues and memorization, children would be taught using a phonics-based approach that focuses on learning to sound out letters and phrases.

NFL Releases Green Bay Packers Schedule For 2023

Before Thursday, the Green Bay Packers knew the teams they were going to play during the 2023 season. Now, they know when and where they will play those opponents.

The National Football League released the team's schedule Thursday night.

The Packers open and close the season against the Chicago Bears. The season opener is September 10 in Chicago. The Bears come to Lambeau Field in Week 18.

Among the highlights of the schedule are a home game against the defending NFL champion Kansas City Chiefs on December 3, a Thanksgiving day game at the Detroit Lions, a Christmas eve matchup at the Carolina Panthers and a New Year's Eve game at the Minnesota Vikings.