Morning Headlines - Friday, May 9, 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

Who Is Robert Prevost, The New Pope Leo XIV?

Even before his name was announced from the balcony of St Peter's Basilica, the crowds below were chanting "Viva il Papa" - Long live the Pope.

Robert Francis Prevost, 69, will be the 267th occupant of the throne of St Peter and he will be known as Leo XIV.

He is the first American to fill the role of pope, although he is considered as much a cardinal from Latin America because of the many years he spent as a missionary in Peru.

Born in Chicago in 1955 to parents of Spanish and Franco-Italian descent, Prevost served as an altar boy and was ordained in 1982.

What Will The New Pope Be Like? He’s Chosen To Be Called Leo: That’s No Accident

What’s in a name? When it comes to a pope – everything. The white smoke from the Sistine Chapel earlier this evening told the world that a new pope to succeed Francis had been elected – and for the first time the pontiff is from the US.

But if Donald Trump and his Catholic convert Veep, JD Vance, are ready to cheer, then they should think again. Cardinal Robert Prevost has chosen the name Leo XIV – and if you’re a papal Leo, you tend to be a reformer at the progressive end of Catholicism. That Prevost has decided to become Leo XIV will make Catholics think immediately of the last Leo – Leo XIII – and his 1891 encyclical or teaching document, Rerum Novarum, which outlined workers’ rights to a fair wage, safe working conditions and the rights of workers to belong to trade unions. If Pope Francis was the People’s Pope, then Leo XIV is all set to be the Workers’ Pope.

An Underwater Volcano Off The Coast Of Oregon May Be About To Erupt

About 300 miles off the coast of Oregon, an underwater volcano appears to be rumbling to life.

Scientists who have been monitoring the vast submarine volcano for decades say a flurry of recent activity — including an uptick in earthquakes in the vicinity, and swelling of the structure itself — signals that it’s ready to erupt.

Current forecasts project that the volcano, known as Axial Seamount, could erupt anytime between now and the end of the year, according to Bill Chadwick, a volcanologist and research professor at Oregon State University.

Trump Appoints Fox News Host Jeanine Pirro As Top Prosecutor In DC

President Donald Trump says he will appoint Fox News host and former prosecutor Jeanine Pirro as interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

Trump announced the pick in a post on Truth Social.

The selection comes as Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Thursday that Ed Martin, who is currently serving as D.C.'s interim top prosecutor, would not be taking the position permanently after losing support among top Republicans in the Senate.

Trump Pushes Republicans To Have Rich Pay More Taxes

The White House is making a last-ditch push to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans as part of President Trump’s  big beautiful bill,” as Republican lawmakers craft the final details of the tax package.

The proposal, according to three sources, would allow the top marginal income tax rate cut that Trump signed into law in 2017 to expire at the end of the year for the highest-income Americans — meaning that rate would rise from 37 percent to 39.6 percent — while Republicans would extend the 2017 tax cuts for the lower tax brackets. 

Wisconsin Headlines

Father Of Wisconsin Teen Who Killed 2 In Madison School Shooting Arrested

The father of a Wisconsin girl who killed two people in the shooting at Abundant Life Christian School has been arrested and faces felony charges, the Madison Police Department said Thursday.

MPD said that Jeffrey Rupnow, 42, was arrested around 3:45 a.m. Thursday. An arrest warrant was unsealed at 1 p.m. Thursday.

Madison Police Dept. said he faces charges of contributing to the delinquency of a child and two counts of providing a dangerous weapon to a person under 18 resulting in death.

Democrats Ask Wisconsin Supreme Court To Toss State's Congressional District Boundaries

Democratic voters asked the liberal-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court to throw out the battleground state’s current congressional district boundaries after a similar request was rejected in 2024.

Republicans currently hold six of the state’s eight U.S. House seats — but only two of those districts are considered competitive. The petition seeks to have the state’s congressional district lines redrawn ahead of the 2026 midterms. Filed on May 7 and made public on May 8, the petition comes from the Elias Law Group, which represents Democratic groups and candidates and also filed the 2024 request.

JFC Bosses Look To Evers-Proof Next State Budget

The Republicans who are writing Wisconsin’s next state budget are doing more than cutting Gov. Tony Evers’ policy proposals from the new spending plan. They are trying their best to veto-proof it.

Joint Committee on Finance co-chairs Rep. Mark Born, RBeaver Dam, and Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, on Thursday told reporters they are changing the way the budget is written to avoid as many line item vetos from Gov. Evers as they can.

“I anticipate that you're not going to see too many references to the digits, the years anymore,” Sen. Marklein said. “My guess is that our drafting attorneys are going to recommend that you spell out those years and those dates in the budget.”

With UW-Madison Roots, Google Office In Wisconsin Works On Data Centers, Chips For AI

Whenever you do a Google search or send a Gmail, an office in Madison, Wisconsin has a supporting role.

The office, in a nondescript commercial building overlooking Wisconsin’s Capitol, is more than 2,000 miles from Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California. But it’s home to over 100 engineers at work on designing hardware and software for the tech giant’s data centers.

“Every time my son uploads something to the classroom or my daughter’s concert for elementary school is live streamed on YouTube … there’s work being done in Madison that’s some piece of supporting all of this,” said Milo Martin, the current engineering director and site lead of the Google Madison office.

On Day 1 Of Votes, Wisconsin Republicans Cut Over 600 Items From Gov. Tony Evers’ Budget

Republicans took their first step toward rewriting Wisconsin’s state budget Thursday, eliminating with a single vote more than 600 ideas proposed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

The move by the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee has become routine as a matter of practice in Wisconsin, where Republicans have run the Legislature during Evers’ entire tenure as governor. But Thursday’s vote was still dramatic in scope, leaving a budget far different than the one Evers introduced to lawmakers in February.