Morning Headlines - Thursday, Jun. 30, 2022 | Recent News

U.S. and World Headlines

Russia Announces Troop Withdrawal From Snake Island

Russia’s defence ministry says its troops have withdrawn from Snake Island, in the Black Sea, as a “gesture of goodwill” aimed at demonstrating Moscow supports efforts to restart food exports from Ukraine’s ports. Ukrainian officials hailed the announcement as a victory for their forces.

Fear Of A Recession Could Become A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Fear of a recession could be the final straw that actually tips the economy into that recession, some analysts say.

Persistent inflation, and the Federal Reserve’s campaign to rein it in, are conspiring to tip the economy into a downturn — one that even Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledges could metastasize into a recession.

R. Kelly Sentenced To 30 Years In Prison For Sex Trafficking, Racketeering

A federal judge sentenced singer and convicted sexual predator R. Kelly to 30 years in prison Wednesday.

Kelly was convicted last September of racketeering and violating the Mann Act, a sex trafficking law, including having sex with underage girls. He could have faced up to life in prison.

Kelly declined to make a statement during the hearing on Wednesday. Outside the courthouse, Jennifer Bonjean, a lawyer for Kelly, said his lawyers advised him not to make a statement because he still has pending cases.

Enter Hillary Clinton? Trump, Roe Prompt Muted Talk Of White House Run

Hillary Clinton is having her biggest I-told-you-so moment to date.

The overturning of Roe v. Wade by a Supreme Court that includes three judges nominated by Donald Trump, along with devastating Tuesday testimony to the Jan. 6 panel about the former president’s temper tantrums as a mob attacked the Capitol, have Clinton and his allies seeing new vindication in her 2016 warnings about the mistake of electing Trump.

$825K In American Rescue Plan Funds Went To ‘Oral Historians’ Researching Anti-Racism, 'Latinx' Histories

Hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars from President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package went towards "under/unemployed oral historians" and their research related to studies in anti-racism and Indigenous and "Latinx" histories.

The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, which Democrats passed in March 2021 without any Republican support, was billed by the Democratic Party as an economic necessity for getting the country through the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), which received $135 million from the plan, announced last October that it had allocated $87.8 million in ARP funds to "nearly 300 cultural and educational institutions to help them recover from the economic impact of the pandemic, retain and rehire workers, and reopen sites, facilities, and programs."

Supreme Court Rejects Kaul Attempt To Force Walker Appointee Off Natural Resources Board

A split state Supreme Court today ruled Wausau dentist Frederick Prehn may continue to serve on the DNR Board until the GOP-controlled state Senate confirms his successor even though his term expired more than a year ago.

In the 4-3 ruling, the court found the expiration of Prehn’s term doesn’t create a vacancy under state law. Prehn, appointed to the board by former GOP Gov. Scott Walker, may only be removed from the body by the guv “for cause.”

A Year In, Legal Fight Over Gableman Election Investigation Keeps Growing

More than a year after Wisconsin Republicans tapped former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman to lead a wide-ranging election investigation, the number of court cases connected to the probe continues to grow with no end in sight.

This week, the liberal watchdog group American Oversight filed its fourth lawsuit connected to the investigation, this one against Gableman's Office of Special Counsel after he admitted to deleting some documents connected to the probe.

Merrill Man Sentenced To More Than 16 Years For Producing Child Pornography

Jason D. Ridolfi, 42, Merrill, Wisconsin, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 16 ½ years in prison for using a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child pornography. This term of imprisonment is to be followed by 20 years of supervised release. The defendant pleaded guilty to this charge on March 21, 2022.

In November 2020, the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that sexually explicit images of children had been uploaded to Google the month prior. Based on this tip, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at Ridolfi’s home and found more than 25,000 images of child pornography, including some the defendant produced, on devices belonging to the defendant.

Former Milwaukee Police Officer Charged With Possession Of Child Pornography

A Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) officer is facing five counts of possession of child pornography, according to a criminal complaint.

Mark Horstmeyer was charged after the MPD internal affairs division received a citizen tip regarding an officer who was in possession of child pornography.

Horstmeyer made his first appearance Tuesday in Milwaukee County Court. A commissioner set a $15,000 signature bond.

Wisconsin's Covid Condition: Pediatric Vaccination Expands, Omicron Settles In

In its third summer, elevated transmission and ongoing public health efforts to provide vaccines to as many people as possible – including newly eligible young children – has become a persistent pandemic pattern.