Morning Headlines - Tuesday, June 3, 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

Kavanaugh Signals Supreme Court Will Soon Decide Constitutionality Of Banning AR-15s

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a case that involves whether possessing AR-15s is protected by the Second Amendment, but the court’s conservatives are signaling they soon will.

Only three justices — Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch — voted to hear a challenge to Maryland’s ban on possessing AR-15s, barely falling short of the four votes required to take up a case.

But Justice Brett Kavanaugh sent a strong signal that he will provide that crucial fourth vote in a future case once the issue percolates more in the lower courts.

“In my view, this Court should and presumably will address the AR–15 issue soon, in the next Term or two,” Kavanaugh wrote in a three-page written statement.

Ukraine Claims New Underwater Bomb Attack On Russia's Crimean Bridge

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on Tuesday claimed to have conducted a new attack on Russia's Kerch Strait Bridge -- which links occupied Crimea to Russia's Krasnodar Krai region -- two days after the service's dramatic drone strikes on Russia's strategic bomber fleet.

The SBU posted a video, photograph and statement to its official Telegram channel detailing the operation, which it said "lasted several months."

"SBU agents mined the supports of this illegal facility," the statement read. "And today, without any civilian casualties, at 4:44 am the first explosive device was activated."

Robinhood’s $200 Million Bitstamp Deal Takes It Beyond Retail Trading

Robinhood has officially closed its $200 million acquisition of Bitstamp, which brings more than 50 global crypto licenses, a ready-made institutional client base, and new infrastructure for lending, staking and “crypto as a service.”

Robinhood plans to keep Bitstamp’s operations intact for now, using the exchange for smart order routing and expanding its presence across Europe, the UK, and Asia.

With regulatory clarity emerging and more institutions entering the space, Robinhood aims to become a global crypto powerhouse — without starting from scratch.

Defamation Trial Begins For MyPillow Boss Mike Lindell Over Election Claims

A US federal trial has begun for MyPillow chief executive and Donald Trump supporter Mike Lindell, who is accused of defaming a former employee at an electronic voting company in the bitter aftermath of the 2020 election.

Mr Lindell is being sued by a former employee of Dominion Voting Systems, who claims Lindsell falsely accused him of helping to steal the vote - which was won by Joe Biden.

The man says his reputation was "irreparably tarnished" by Mr Lindell.

Dominion itself has also filed cases against several Trump allies who it claims baselessly alleged that the company's voting machines had been rigged during the vote.

Colon Cancer Recurrence And Deaths Cut 28% By Simple Exercise, Trial Finds

Exercise is generally good for you, but a new high-quality clinical trial finds that it's so good, it can even knock back colon cancer—and, in fact, rival some chemotherapy treatments.

The finding comes from a phase 3, randomized clinical trial led by researchers in Canada, who studied nearly 900 people who had undergone surgery and chemotherapy for colon cancer. After those treatments, patients were evenly split into groups that either bulked up their regular exercise routines in a three-year program that included coaching and supervision or were simply given health education. The researchers found that the exercise group had a 28 percent lower risk of their colon cancer recurring, new cancers developing, or dying over eight years compared with the health education group.

Wisconsin Headlines

Wisconsin's Energy Future Hangs In The Balance

While politicians in Washington picked energy winners and losers, Wisconsin families picked up the tab. But last week, by a single vote, we moved closer to energy freedom—though our fate still hangs on the Senate.

The House's nail-biting 215-214 passage of the budget reconciliation bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—which addresses Medicaid, tax cuts, the debt limit, and spending—would eliminate $197 billion in green energy subsidies by 2028. The bill now heads to the upper chamber, where senators are debating a slower phase-out of energy subsidies. Among everything else in the bill, whether the energy subsidies are partially removed or taken out completely will matter to Wisconsin's future.

Our state's manufacturing economy depends on reliable, affordable electricity. With nearly 500,000 manufacturing jobs across 9,000 companies, the stakes couldn't be higher. Just producing Wisconsin's 10 million barrels of beer requires more than half a trillion watt-hours of power.

‘Facts And Figures On My Side’ In Reconciliation Fight, Johnson Tells ‘UpFront’

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, says he has “the facts and figures on my side” as the U.S. Senate returns to Washington and he prepares to take on President Donald Trump and his “Big, Beautiful Bill.”

“I don’t want it to come to that. I want to work with this president,” Johnson said on WISN 12’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “I want to see him succeed. I want to see America succeed. I want us to stop mortgaging our children’s future, and that’s the promise I made in my three elections.

“I’m happy to engage on the conversation,” Johnson added. “I just can’t support something that actually increases the deficit, and that is what’s going to happen right now as the bill is currently written.”

Wisconsin Bill Would Allow Court Interpreters To Work Remotely During Trials

Wisconsin Republicans are advancing a bill that could expand the role of virtual language interpretation in state courts.

Supporters say they hope to enable flexibility in a state with an unmet demand for qualified interpreters.

But opponents worry the changes could erode the rights of victims and defendants by making it easer for miscommunication to happen.

Under Wisconsin law, people with limited English proficiency have the right to a qualified interpreter when they appear before a circuit or appellate court.

Wisconsin Man Allegedly Forged Letter Threatening Trump To Get Witness Against Him Deported

A Wisconsin man is facing charges accusing him of forging a letter threatening President Donald Trump’s life in an effort to get another man who was a potential witness against him in a criminal case deported.

Prosecutors said in a criminal complaint filed Monday that Demetric D. Scott was behind a letter sent to state and federal officials with the return address and name of Ramón Morales Reyes.

Wisconsin Lawmakers Propose Dozens Of Mental Health Care Bills

A Wisconsin mother who lost her daughter to suicide is urging lawmakers to make it easier to get mental health treatment for older teens.

A bill she believes would do that is one of more than a dozen pending bills focused on expanding mental health access across the state.

Julie Elfers of Cottage Grove told legislators her story when the Assembly Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse Prevention held public hearings on five mental health care bills last week.

Those bills largely center on youth mental health, including the consent of minors who are 14 years or older for mental health treatment, safety plans for children and emergency detention plans for youth.