Morning Headlines - Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025 | Recent News

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

Trump’s Attacks On ‘No Kings’ Underscore His Second Term’s Unofficial Mottoes

President Trump and the White House are ratcheting up the rhetoric in attacking Democrats, leaning into mockery and incendiary language to demean their political rivals.

The trend was particularly notable as President Trump, many of his aids and Republicans in Congress verbally attacked those marching in the weekend’s “No Kings” demonstrations against the administration.

Schools That Banned Phones Saw Surprising Results Beyond Fewer Distractions

When one Florida school district banned cellphones, disciplinary issues initially spiked as schools worked to enforce the new rule.

By the second year, however, suspension rates returned to normal and test scores rose significantly, according to a new study published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

According to the researchers, student scores in the school district notably increased by "about 2-3 percentiles" in the second year of ban compared to year before the ban.

American Chess Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky Dies At 29

Daniel Naroditsky, a chess grandmaster who started as a child prodigy and quickly became one of the most influential American voices in the sport, died Monday. He was 29.

The Charlotte Chess Center in North Carolina, where Naroditsky trained and worked as a coach, announced his death on social media, calling him "a talented chess player, educator, and beloved member of the chess community."

Virginia Giuffre, Epstein And Prince Andrew Accuser, Gets ‘Final Word’ In New Memoir

Six months after Virginia Giuffre died by suicide at the age of 41, she is getting the final word in a cruel and revolting scandal that sucked her in when she was still in her mid-teens, and which never entirely let her go.

Giuffre, who previously alleged she was trafficked to Prince Andrew by Jeffrey Epstein at 17, feared she would “die a sex slave” at Epstein’s hand, per the BBC, which received an advance copy of her posthumous memoir, “Nobody’s Girl.”

The memoir, released Tuesday, serves as a discussion of surviving abuse, fighting for justice and suffering at the hands of Epstein and Andrew.

George Springer's 3-Run HR Sends Blue Jays To World Series

Nothing changed for the Toronto Blue Jays, Major League Baseball's premier comeback artists in this dream of a season, before George Springer completed the franchise's most important comeback since 1993 in their 4-3 win over the Seattle Mariners in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series on Monday.

The Blue Jays desperately needed runs in the seventh inning, so manager John Schneider, in keeping with a superstition he has shared with Blue Jays hitting coach David Popkins since Opening Day, sat down on the bench in the home dugout at Rogers Centre and watched the surreal sequence unfold.

Wisconsin A-G: Verifying Voter Citizenship Threatens Voter Rights

As expected, Wisconsin’s attorney general is continuing his fight against the effort to make sure only U.S. citizens are voting in elections in the state.

Attorney General Josh Kaul on Monday filed an appeal to the ruling from a Waukesha County judge who ordered the Wisconsin Elections Commission to cross-check the state’s voter rolls with the DMV’s list of non-citizen driver’s license holders.

"The circuit court’s decision and order drastically alters voter registration and elections in Wisconsin, violates state law, and threatens voting rights," Kaul wrote in his appeal.

Bipartisan Wisconsin Bill Would Require First Responders To Carry EpiPens

Andrew Mueller of Wisconsin Rapids was 20 years old when he died last year after going into anaphylactic shock after accidentally eating Peanut Butter M&Ms. His father, Mark Mueller, choked back tears as he told state lawmakers that neither he, nor his wife, Cristin, knew Andrew was allergic to peanuts until that moment.

“We called 911,” Mark Mueller told members of the Assembly Committee on Health, Aging and Long-Term Care. “Police and EMTs arrived quickly, but none of them carried epinephrine. We had to wait about seven minutes before the paramedics arrived, and by then it was too late.”

Wisconsin DNR Marks Forest Products Week, Highlighting $41B Industry Impact

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is celebrating Forest Products Week from Oct. 19–25, recognizing the people and industries that sustain the state's 17 million acres of forested land.

Wisconsin's forest products industry generates $27 billion in goods each year and supports more than 56,000 jobs, according to DNR data. The total economic impact tops $41 billion statewide, with about 1,000 companies involved in forest products and another 250 in logging and forestry support.

Wisconsin Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Legalize Mobile Sports Betting

The bill, introduced by Reps. Tyler August (R-Walworth) and Kalan Haywood (D-Milwaukee) along with Sens. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) and Kristin Dassler-Alfheim (D-Appleton) would authorize mobile sports betting in Wisconsin through a tribal-based framework.

It would follow a model similar to Florida’s system, where sportsbook operators host servers on federally recognized tribal lands, while users place bets from anywhere within state lines.

Wisconsin AD McIntosh Backs Fickell Amid Disappointing Season

University of Wisconsin Director of Athletics Chris McIntosh has released a statement to football season ticket holders supporting head coach Luke Fickell.

In his statement, McIntosh said “Coach Fickell sees the potential in what this team can be, as do I, and he shares the same disappointment and frustration.”

The Badgers football team is on a five-game losing streak including back-to-back shutout losses to Big Ten rivals Iowa and Ohio State.