Morning Headlines - Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025 | 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

Plane Crashes In D.C.'s Potomac River With 64 On Board After Midair Collision With Army Helicopter

Search efforts continue in the Potomac River after a plane with 60 passengers and 4 crew on board collided in midair with an Army Black Hawk helicopter carrying three soldiers near Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.

At least 19 bodies had been recovered by 2:50 a.m. ET, a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation told CBS News.

The plane, American Eagle flight 5342, had taken off from Wichita, Kansas, and was approaching for landing when the collision occurred.

The helicopter was on a training flight with a crew of three, based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia.

4 Takeaways After RFK Jr. Is Grilled By Senators During Confirmation Hearing

In the first of two public sit-downs with the Senate that will decide his possible future as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced nearly four hours of questions about his decadeslong public record.

Kennedy, a former Democrat from a legacy political family who threw his weight behind President Donald Trump in 2024 with the "Make America Healthy Again" movement, is a longtime environmental lawyer. He's perhaps most known for his work in questioning the safety and effectiveness of vaccines -- a topic on Wednesday that he repeatedly sought to placate senators on, without much apparent luck among Democrats.

White House Rescinded Funding Memo After GOP Senators ‘Hit The Ceiling’

The White House budget office rescinded a memo ordering a broad freeze on federal grants and loans after Republican senators “hit the ceiling” over the order, which caught them completely by surprise and created confusion in their home states.

Republican senators were careful not to criticize President Trump publicly after the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a broadly worded memo Monday that appeared to freeze broad swaths of federal funding but privately they were livid, according to Senate sources.

'City-Killer' Asteroid Has A 1-in-83 Chance Of Smashing Into Earth In 2032

NASA scientists have just spotted a hunk of space rock that could smack into Earth in 2032. And while it's unlikely to wipe out humanity, it could take out a city.

The asteroid, dubbed 2024 YR4, was detected by NASA's Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System on Dec. 27, 2024. According to researchers, it has about a 1-in-83 chance of impacting our planet in 2032.

Why AI Could Replace NFL First-Down Markers Sooner Than You Might Think

For more than 100 years, football has been officiated using a simple chain 10 yards long. The so-called chain gang has been the sport’s judge and jury, ruling whether a ball traveled the number of yards needed for a team to get a first down — and four more chances to score.

But artificial intelligence and new technology could soon make the chain gang obsolete, with an advanced system known as Hawk-Eye aspiring to make the game faster and more accurate by mashing together high-tech software with a lot of cameras.

Republicans Criticize Crawford For Attending An Event For Donors To The Democratic Party

The liberal candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court participated in a briefing with Democratic donors billed as a “chance to put two more House seats in play,” a move that Republicans say shows that she is committed to redrawing congressional districts to benefit Democrats.

The event is just one of many partisan gatherings the candidates in the nonpartisan-in-name-only race have attended. Both candidates are also accepting large donations from partisans, including the Democratic and Republican parties, as both sides fight for control of the court in the battleground state.

Wisconsin Reading Scores Fall Again

Kids in Wisconsin schools continue to do worse on national reading tests, and Milwaukee once again has the worst racial learning gap in America.

The U.S. Department of Education’s National Assessment of Educational Progress released the latest Nation's Report Card on Wednesday. And Wisconsin schools look to have failed once again.

The numbers, which are based on the 2024 tests, show just 31% of fourth graders in the state, and 31% of eighth graders were rated as proficient or better on the report card. That’s down from 33% and 32% back in 2022.

GOP Accuses Crawford Of ‘Selling’ Congressional Seats For Addressing Democratic Donor Briefing

Republicans are accusing liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford of “selling” two U.S. House seats after she participated in a Democratic donor call focused on how her race could affect the fight for control of Congress.

Crawford’s campaign rejected the accusations, saying she joined the call briefly to share her story, but the dispute could be a sign that redistricting will again be a pivotal issue in this year’s race for the court.

The call with Democratic donors was advertised as a “chance to put two more House seats in play for 2026.”

Attorney General Kaul Joins Multistate Coalition To Defend Lead And Copper Rule Improvements

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul joined a multistate coalition to intervene to defend the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2024 Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI). The LCRI, which went into effect on December 30, replaced the first Trump Administration’s rule, the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR), which had weakened existing drinking water standards for lead exposure.

The current LCRI strengthens the original Lead and Copper Rule by implementing more stringent standards to ensure safe drinking water, most importantly a requirement for water systems to replace lead pipes nationwide within 10 years. The LCRI is being challenged by American Water Works Association.

Madison School Policy Cited In Trump Order Banning Teaching Critical Race Theory, Gender Identity

President Donald Trump is ordering U.S. schools to stop teaching what he views as “critical race theory” and other material dealing with race, sexuality and gender identity — or risk losing their federal money.

The order specifically mentions a Madison Metropolitan School District policy that it says calls on schools to “disrupt the gender binary” by teaching students to embrace different gender identities.

Teachers and school officials who promote the “social transition” of students would face action from state, local and federal legal authorities under Trump’s plan. The order says the practice amounts to sexual exploitation.