Morning Headlines - Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023

U.S. and World Headlines

Pentagon Puts Troops On Notice To Prepare To Deploy To Support Israel: Reports

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a select number of U.S. troops to prepare to deploy in support of Israel, multiple outlets have reported.

About 2,000 such troops were chosen this weekend to be ready to assist with advising and medical support, The Wall Street Journal first reported.

The forces will be pulled from across the U.S. armed services, with the troops currently stationed inside the Middle East and in nearby Europe. But officials have not said which units were chosen or the location they would deploy to, according to the Journal.

The outlet noted the troops wouldn’t serve in a combat role, and no infantry had been put on prepare-to-deploy order.

Senate GOP Warms To Idea Of Speaker Jordan

Senate Republicans embarrassed by the prolonged stalemate in the House over electing a new Speaker are warming up to the idea of Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) taking the job in hopes that he’ll be able to corral conservative House rebels.

Jordan has long been regarded in Washington as one of the most hard-line conservatives in Congress. He founded the House Freedom Caucus and played a leading role in challenging President Biden’s 2020 election victory.

But Senate Republicans who were pulling for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to hang onto his job and then quietly rooted for House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) to wield the Speaker’s gavel are now willing to give Jordan the “benefit of the doubt.”

Supreme Court Orders Makers Of Gun Parts To Comply With Federal "Ghost Gun" Rules

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered two internet sellers of gun parts to comply with a Biden administration regulation aimed at "ghost guns," firearms that are difficult to trace because they lack serial numbers.

The court had intervened once before, by a 5-4 vote in August, to keep the regulation in effect after it had been invalidated by a lower court. In that order, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined with the three liberal justices to freeze the lower court's ruling. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh said they would deny the request from the Biden administration to revive the rules.

Amazon, Tripadvisor Team Up To Battle Fake Reviews While FTC Seeks Ban

Some of the most used platforms for travel and online shopping said Tuesday they’re going to team up to battle fake reviews.

Amazon, reviews site Glassdoor and Trustpilot as well as travel companies Expedia Group, Booking.com and Tripadvisor said in an announcement they’re launching a coalition that aims to protect access to “trustworthy consumer reviews" worldwide.

The companies said the members of the group, which will be called Coalition for Trusted Reviews, will look for best practices for hosting online reviews and share methods on how to detect fake ones. That will include developing standards for what constitutes a fake review and sharing information about how bad actors operate.

Ford Lays Off 700 Who Were Building Electric Version Of F-150

Ford is laying off about 700 workers who build the F-150 Lightning, the electric version of its best-selling pickup truck, and unlike other recent layoffs this one has nothing to do with the ongoing strike by the United Auto Workers union.

The company said it will temporarily cut one of the three shifts at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, near the company’s main headquarters. It will rotate the layoffs between the three shifts.

Wisconsin Headlines

Republican Lawmakers, Biosafety Advocates Join Forces On Pathogen Research Legislation

Legislation banning a certain type of research on dangerous pathogens is bringing together an unlikely alliance of public health scientists, community activists and Republicans who spurned COVID-19 safety protocols.

For decades, the world’s leading scientists have debated the merits of experiments that make risky pathogens more dangerous — some of the most controversial are done at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Who Is Paying For The Proposed $646 Million In Updates To American Family Field?

What would you do with $646 million? That's what the Brewers organization is hoping for to make repairs to the American Family Field.

On Tuesday, the State Assembly is voting on a bill that would put a big chunk of that price tag on state and local governments.

Fans of the team and residents in the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County are split on how much sales tax revenue should fund the stadium upgrades.

New Legislation Would Put Free Menstruation Products In State, Local And School Buildings

State Senate Democratic Leader Melissa Agard introduced legislation that would put free feminine hygiene products in state, local and school buildings.

The senator says these products are necessities, not optional.

"Menstruation is a natural process that has been stigmatized, hidden and treated with shame and derision," Agard said in a release. "Menstrual products are necessities, not luxuries, and should be easily accessible to any person who needs it. Nobody should have to miss out on school, work, or important life events, risk their health, or compromise their dignity because they menstruate."

Wisconsin Republican Makes Case For Returning Nearly $3B To Taxpayers

A bill to cut state income taxes by over $2.9 billion and exempt retirement income from state taxation passed out of the Wisconsin state Assembly and received a public hearing in the state Senate last month.

The Republican tax cut proposal passed on a 64-35 party line vote in the Assembly, sending it to the Senate where the GOP is also in the majority. Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, has vowed to veto the bill if it reaches his desk.

The bill would return to taxpayers much of the $4 billion state surplus, said state Rep. David Steffen, R-Howard, author of the bill. State Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara, R-Appleton, is the lead sponsor of the proposal in the Senate.

Wisconsin Man Charged With Sexual Exploitation Of Children & Extortion

In an indictment returned on October 11, 2023 by a federal grand jury sitting in Madison, Wisconsin, a Trempealeau County man is charged with child sexual exploitation offenses and extortion. The indictment is announced by Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin.

The indictment charges Seth W. Fagan, 32, Galesville, Wisconsin, with using and coercing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of the conduct, with transmitting threats to injure the reputation of the minor with the intent to extort a thing of value from the minor, and with receiving a visual depiction of a second minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

Fagan was arrested today in La Crosse. The time for his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Madison has not been set.