Morning Headlines - Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024

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 and the end for a little humor to go with your news!

U.S. and World Headlines

Israel Hits Beirut As World Awaits Its Response Against Iran

Israel’s warplanes bombed Beirut overnight, after eight of its soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon in ongoing ground battles against Hezbollah.

Nine people died in the center of the Lebanese capital after an Israeli strike on a medical site affiliated with Hezbollah, according to local authorities including the health ministry. The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday it killed 15 Hezbollah militants in an overnight airstrike on a local government building used by the group in the town of Bint Jbeil.

Debate Performance Gives Vance 2028 White House Boost

Sen. JD Vance’s (R-Ohio) debate performance is giving him a shot in the arm to become a leading 2028 presidential contender no matter what happens in November between former President Trump and Vice President Harris.

The impact of vice presidential debates on election outcomes is widely considered negligible. But the significance of Tuesday’s debate between Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) could be felt more acutely years from now after the Ohio Republican received widespread plaudits from the right for his performance.

Hurricane Kirk Strengthens Into Category 3 Storm In The Atlantic, Expected To Grow Rapidly

Hurricane Kirk strengthened Wednesday into a Category 3 storm in the Atlantic Ocean and was expected to grow rapidly into a major hurricane, forecasters said.

There were no coastal watches or warnings in effect, and the storm system was not yet deemed a threat to land. But forecaster warned Thursday that "large swells" could reach the U.S. East Coast by Sunday.

Digital Bank Revolut Slams Meta Over Approach To Scams, Says Tech Giant Should Compensate Victims

British financial technology firm Revolut on Thursday criticized Facebook parent company Meta over its approach to tackling fraud, saying the U.S. tech giant should directly compensate people who fall victim to scams via its social media platforms.

A day after Meta announced a partnership with U.K. banks NatWest and Metro Bank on a data-sharing framework designed to help prevent customers from falling prey to fraud schemes, Revolut said the pact “falls woefully short of what’s required to tackle fraud globally.”

US Bans New Types Of Goods From China Over Allegations Of Forced Labor

The Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday that it would ban the import of goods from a Chinese steel manufacturer and a Chinese maker of artificial sweetener, accusing both of being involved in the use of forced labor from China's far-west region of Xinjiang.

The action broadens the scope of the U.S. effort to counter products from entering the country that the government says are tied to human rights abuses.

Wisconsin Headlines

Liz Cheney To Campaign With Harris In Battleground State Stop

Republican former Rep. Liz Cheney will campaign with Vice President Kamala Harris in Wisconsin on Thursday, touting her endorsement of the Democratic presidential nominee in the crucial battleground state, a senior campaign official told CNN.

The campaign event marks the latest effort from the former Wyoming congresswoman to move undecided voters away from former President Donald Trump with less than five weeks until Election Day. Cheney, who previously told CNN she was committed to doing what was necessary to stop Trump from returning to the White House, endorsed Harris last month in North Carolina, another swing state.

Trump Edges Harris By 1 Point In Wisconsin Poll

Former President Trump is leading Vice President Harris by a razor-thin margin in the battleground state of Wisconsin, according to a new poll.

The survey asked voters in the critical swing state who they would cast their ballot for if the election were tomorrow. The numbers show Trump with a 1.1-point advantage over the vice president, garnering 47.1 percent support to Harris’s 46 percent.

Roughly 3.8 percent were undecided, and 3.1 percent chose “other,” according to the poll.

Environmental Groups And Industry At Odds Over Plan To Conserve Old-growth Forests

Some Wisconsin groups are urging the Biden administration to do more to protect mature and old-growth forests under its proposal to conserve those trees as logging interests are pushing back against changes.

Environmental groups say the U.S. Forest Service has received more than 1 million comments to protect old-growth forests from logging since President Joe Biden issued an executive order to conserve them two years ago. The directive called for reducing the risk of wildfires and developing policies to make the nation’s forests more resilient to climate change.

Wisconsin Man Sentenced To 10 Years For Trafficking Fentanyl And Possessing Firearms As Convicted Felon; Co-defendant Sentenced To 15 Months’

Gregory J. Haanstad, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that October 1, 2024, Senior United States District Judge William C. Griesbach sentenced Joseph D. Charlesworth (age: 35) to a total sentence of ten years’ imprisonment and seven years’ supervised release after Charlesworth pled guilty to Possessing Fentanyl With Intent to Distribute and Possessing Firearms as a Previously Convicted Felon, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(a)(1), and Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1).

Wisconsin Legalized Ballot Drop Boxes, But Some Local Officials Are Fighting Them

Months after the Wisconsin Supreme Court legalized them, ballot drop boxes remain a source of deep division among public officials in communities across the battleground state.

While city officials in Madison and Milwaukee embraced them early for the August primary, several communities in Waukesha and Milwaukee counties have opted out of using drop boxes for November’s election, to some voters’ dismay. Some clerks in Dodge County decided not to use drop boxes after the county sheriff warned against them, saying he struggled with “the appearance of the potential for fraud even if no fraud occurs.”