Morning Headlines - Tuesday, Mar. 21, 2023

U.S. and World Headlines

Biden Issues First Veto As President, Blocks Measure By Congress On 'Woke' Investment

President Joe Biden issued his first veto Monday after Congress voted to block a Labor Department rule allowing retirement plans to weigh the long-term impacts of social factors and climate change on investments — a move Republicans say is a "woke" policy that hurts retirees' pockets.

"I just signed this veto because the legislation passed by the Congress would put at risk retirement savings of individuals across the country," Biden said in a video posted to Twitter. "They couldn't take into consideration investments that would be impacted by climate impacted by overpaying executives."

Senate Republicans, along with two Democrats, voted on the measure March 1, needing only a simple majority for it to pass. Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who are both up for reelection next year in Republican states, voted with Republicans.

Jackson Pens Solo Dissent As Supreme Court Vacates Abortion Ruling

The Supreme Court on Monday struck down a federal court ruling upholding the right for a minor to go to court to get permission to undergo an abortion, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson penning a solo dissent in the case.

The ruling from the court on Monday vacated a lower court ruling that a state court clerk could be sued for telling a pregnant teenager that the court must notify her parents of her attempt to get a court order to allow her to obtain an abortion without the consent of her parents.

Jackson’s dissent focused on the use of Munsingwear vacatur, in which a case is vacated because it has become moot while pending review by a higher court — unless the party adversely impacted by the initial decision is not to blame for the “mootness.”

“I am concerned that contemporary practice related to so called ‘Munsingwear vacaturs’ has drifted away from the doctrine’s foundational moorings,” Jackson wrote in her dissent.

NYPD, Secret Service Discuss Security Plans Should Trump Be Indicted

The U.S. Secret Service is coordinating security plans with the New York Police Department in the event that former President Donald Trump is indicted and arraigned in an open courtroom in Manhattan, according to sources.

The two agencies had a call Monday to discuss logistics, including court security and how Trump would potentially surrender for booking and processing, according to sources briefed on the discussions.

White collar criminal defendants in New York are typically allowed to negotiate a surrender.

Earlier Monday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he was "confident" the city is prepared for any protests related to a potential indictment of the former president.

DEA Issues Alert About Widespread Threat Of Xylazine

The US Drug Enforcement Administration issued an alert Monday about the widespread threat of fentanyl mixed with xylazine, a veterinary tranquilizer also commonly known as “tranq” or “tranq dope.”

“Xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has every faced, fentanyl, even deadlier,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in the alert. “DEA has seized xylazine and fentanyl mixtures in 48 of 50 states. The DEA Laboratory System is reporting that in 2022 approximately 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills seized by the DEA contained xylazine.”

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 100,000 Americans died from drug poisonings between August 2021 and August 2022, with 66% of the deaths involving synthetic opioids like fentanyl.

Porn-Addict Dentist Arrested For Murdering His Wife With Poison-Laced Protein Shakes

A Colorado dentist charged with murdering his wife with poison-laced protein shakes sent her text messages in hospital enquiring about her condition and professing his love - even as she told him: 'That drink you gave me tastes weird.'

James Craig, 45, was arrested in Aurora, Colorado, on Sunday.

His wife Angela, the mother of his six children, died in hospital the day before, having first reported pain and nausea after drinking a protein shake he prepared for her on March 6.

Craig's mistress - an orthodontist in Texas - sent him worried messages, asking about his wife's condition. She even flew to Colorado to visit Craig from March 8 to March 10, while his wife was in hospital.

Craig's charging documents state that their relationship 'had always been tumultuous.' She told a confidant several times over their 16-year relationship that she was leaving him, but he always convinced her to stay.

He 'had multiple affairs with several women,' the documents state, and told his wife he had been addicted to pornography since he was a teenager.

He admitted to having drugged her five or six years ago, telling her he did it because he wanted to take his own life, and wanted to give himself time to kill himself without her disturbing him.

Wisconsin Headlines

Kelly, Protasiewicz Ramp Up Attacks On ‘Upfront’

The two candidates for Wisconsin Supreme Court are intensifying their mutual attacks ahead of the April 4 election.

Former Justice Daniel Kelly, the Republican-backed candidate, accused Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz, the liberal, of being a “serial liar” and Protasiewicz accused Kelly of being “corrupt.” Both accusations came in new interviews on WISN’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics.com.

A WisPolitics.com analysis shows new independent expenditures pushing spending in the race to $30 million, the most expensive state Supreme Court race in U.S. history.

What The Wisconsin Supreme Court Race Could Mean For The State's Republican-Drawn Redistricting Maps

On April 4, Wisconsin voters will choose a new justice to sit on the state's highest court — but the race could eventually go a long way to deciding who sits in the Legislature.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court race has been called the most important election in the country this year, and the new court will be asked to weigh in on any number of pivotal issues, including, most prominently, whether to strike down the state's abortion ban. But it could also consider a challenge to the state's political district maps, which have been described as among the most gerrymandered in the country.

Whether the court takes that step almost surely depends on who wins next month's election. A victory by former Justice Dan Kelly would preserve the 4-3 conservative majority. A win by Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz would give liberals control of the court for the first time since 2008.

Ag Kaul Demands Action From Kia, Hyundai Over Alarming Spike In Car Thefts

Attorney General Josh Kaul held a press conference in Milwaukee on Monday, where he joined local leaders to demand Kia and Hyundai take action against the continued thefts of their cars.

Kaul called in a crisis and said it's a direct result of the company's failure to install anti-theft measures in their vehicles.

The number of thefts of these vehicles has risen steadily over the last few years. In the summer of 2022, thefts of Kia and Hyundai cars in Madison increased by 270% compared to the previous summer. Hyundai and Kia vehicles accounted for just under half of all vehicle theft in Madison between July and August 2022.

'Election Integrity' Proposals Do Not Address Most Common Voting Infraction In Wisconsin

Election fraud is exceptionally rare: Over the past decade in Wisconsin, it has been prosecuted fewer than 200 times, or about once for every 163,000 ballots cast.

And within that tiny universe, the most common reason for criminal charges is not people voting under dead people’s names, double voting or voter impersonation — the kinds of crimes election skeptics like former President Donald Trump claim happen on a large scale. The main cause is a voter’s probation status, a Wisconsin Watch analysis of every Wisconsin election fraud case since 2012 found.

Researchers Say Invasive Carp Are A Good Source Of Food

Southern Wisconsinites may soon have a new source of local fish: invasive silver and bighead carp.

Tim Campbell with the UW Sea Grant program says those carp, called copi, aren’t like the common carp you usually find at the bottom of inland waters, feeding in the mud.

“Silver and bighead carp aren’t doing that they’re, you know, filter-feeding higher up in the water column. So they tend to have that really kind of clean, mild taste that takes well to a bunch of different seasonings.”

Campbell says there’s plenty of upsides to eating carp.