Morning Headlines - Monday, Nov. 24, 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

Trump To Unveil Health Care Plan Amid ACA Cost Spikes: Report

A published report says the Trump administration will soon unveil a proposal to stabilize Obamacare premiums for Americans who have relied on federal subsidies to afford health care.

Expected spikes in Affordable Care Act premiums next year have bedeviled President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans, who control the House and Senate, as affordability becomes a key issue in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections.

Democrats prolonged the recent government shutdown by demanding that sunsetting health care subsidies be restored to preserve coverage for millions; they later relented after GOP Senate leadership promised a vote on the issue next month.

Republican Lawmakers Grow Alarmed Over Signs Of 2026 Election Wipeout

GOP lawmakers are growing increasingly concerned over signs that the 2026 midterm elections could be a wipeout for Republicans that could cost them control of the House and shave down their Senate majority by two or three seats.

Republican senators say the off-year elections in New Jersey, Virginia and other parts of the country on Nov. 4 served as a wake-up call and warn that President Trump and Republican leaders in Congress need to address voters’ concerns about the slowing economy and persistently high prices.

Bessent Believes There Won’t Be A Recession In 2026 But Says Some Sectors Are Challenged

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. was not at risk of entering a recession in 2026 and that Americans would soon benefit from President Donald Trump’s policies.

Bessent acknowledged there were parts of the economy showing signs of struggle, including housing and interest-rate-sensitive sectors.

Texas Men Indicted In Plot To Take Over Haitian Island And Enslave Women And Children

Two north Texas men have been charged in relation to a plot that included invading an island off Haiti, murdering the men on the island, and using the women and children as sex slaves, announced U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.

Gavin Rivers Weisenburg, 21, of Allen, and Tanner Christopher Thomas, 20, of Argyle were named in a two-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Texas charging them with conspiracy to murder, maim, or kidnap in a foreign country and production of child pornography.

The True Cost Of Thanksgiving Dinner In 2025

Americans are getting ready to shell out this Thanksgiving — and not just on the food.

The average American will spend close to $1,000 this Thanksgiving — $952 to be exact — when factoring in travel costs. The results come from a 2,000-person survey split across ages and demographics.

Talker found that the average American hosting Thanksgiving will fork over $175 this year on food, plus another $110 on drinks. With the most common Thanksgiving dinner having eight guests, that’s about $22 per plate.

Wisconsin Headlines

Hours Elapsed Before Cops Learned Slender Man Attacker Was Missing

Police in Wisconsin said more than eight hours passed before they were notified a former student convicted of stabbing a classmate in the infamous “Slender Man” case had cut off an electronic monitoring bracelet and fled a group home Saturday.

Local authorities did not alert the public until Sunday morning that Morgan Geyser, 23, was missing. Police in Posen, Illinois, captured Geyser around 10:30 p.m. local time Sunday, almost 24 hours after the escape.

The Madison Police Department later offered a timeline to explain the gap.

After GOP Push Stalls, Wisconsin Dems Introduce Early Count Plan

There is another plan to count absentee ballots ahead of Election Day in Wisconsin.

A number of Democrats introduced their own version of a Monday count proposal.

"[This] legislation to allow Wisconsin clerks to begin processing absentee ballots the day before Election Day," Sen. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit, Rep. Lee Snodgrass, D-Appleton, and Rep Clinton Anderson, D-Beloit, said in an announcement. "Forty-three other states permit election officials to begin processing absentee/mail ballots prior to the election including in Texas, Florida, Georgia, and Kansas."

The Democrats’ plan would allow local election managers to start “canvassing” absentee ballots at 7 a.m. on the Monday before Election Day, but they cannot “tally” them until after the polls close on Election Day.

Federal Jury Finds Markita Barnes Guilty Of Healthcare Fraud, Aggravated Identity Theft, Providing Unlawful Kickbacks, Obstruction, And Money Laundering

Brad D. Schimel, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on November 21, 2025, Markita Barnes, the owner and operator of a now-defunct Prenatal Care Coordination Company called Here for You, was convicted of twenty federal charges, including Healthcare Fraud, False Statements related to Healthcare Matters, Anti-Kickback Statute violations, Aggravated Identity Theft, Obstruction of a Healthcare Fraud Investigation, and Money Laundering.

The evidence presented at trial established that Barnes and her employees exploited vulnerable pregnant women and young mothers by luring them into the company’s prenatal care coordination program with kickbacks in the form of cash enrollment bonuses and free baby items such as car seats, pack ‘n plays, diapers, and wipes. Once enrolled, Barnes’s company unlawfully used the women’s personal information to submit claims to Medicaid for services that were never provided, often backdating the claims to months before anyone at the company had met or enrolled the client. In reality, participants often received only occasional deliveries of diapers and wipes, and in some cases, nothing at all. The evidence also demonstrated that Barnes used her fraud proceeds to finance a lavish lifestyle, including luxury travel, designer clothing, and even a $75,000 Mercedes.

Republican Lawmakers Propose New Fees For Hiking, Biking, Cross-Country Skiing On State-Owned Land

A Republican-led proposal would require new fees for people looking to hike, cross-country ski, bike, canoe or forage on state-owned land.

The package of bills, from State Rep. Chanz Green, R-Grand View, and State Sen. Rob Stafsholt, R-New Richmond, seeks to help the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources with a $16 million budget shortfall, according to a co-sponsorship memo.

In a statement, Green said hunters and anglers have “shouldered the burden of rising fees whenever the DNR needs to fund its operations.”

Packers Rout The Minnesota Vikings 23-6 In Second-Straight Win

The Green Bay Packers hosted the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field for Week 12, in hopes of earning their second-straight win.

The NFC North matchup is the first for Green Bay since its Week 1 win over the Detroit Lions.

However, heading into Sunday’s matchup, they were at far less strength as they were in Week 1.