Morning Headlines - Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024

U.S. and World Headlines

Critics Blast New VP Nominee Tim Walz For 'Massive' COVID-19 Fraud 'Under His Watch'

With Tim Walz joining Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris on the campaign trail as her newly selected running mate, critics are blasting the Minnesota governor for what they claim was his failure to prevent a massive COVID-19 fraud scheme that has ensnared the state government.

According to federal charges filed over the past couple of years, at least 70 people were part of a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy that exploited two federally-funded nutrition programs to fraudulently obtain more than $250 million in one of the largest COVID-era fraud schemes anywhere in the nation.

Cori Bush Becomes Second 'Squad' Member To Lose 2024 Primary As Democrats Split Over Israel

Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., suffered a bruising defeat in her St. Louis district on Tuesday night, becoming the second member of the progressive group of House lawmakers known as “the Squad” to lose a Democratic primary to a more moderate opponent this year.

Bush, a second-term lawmaker, was bested in the Democratic race for Missouri’s 1st District by St. Louis prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell, who was backed by a major pro-Israel group. The race was the second most expensive House primary in U.S. history,

U.S. Charges Pakistani With Alleged Iran Ties In Murder-For-Hire Plot Against Trump, U.S. Officials

A Pakistani national with alleged ties to Iran was arrested and charged with plotting a murder-for-hire scheme targeting U.S. government officials and politicians, according to charging documents unsealed Tuesday.

The man, 46-year-old Asif Merchant, is accused of planning to assassinate current and former government officials across the political spectrum, including former President and GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, according to multiple sources familiar investigation.

A Popular Trading Strategy Just Blew Up In Investors’ Faces

When you hear commentators talking this week about the “yen carry trade” or the “great unwind,” they’re referring to a popular trading strategy that is, suddenly, blowing up in investors’ faces.

Put simply: A carry trade is when you borrow money in a place where interest rates are low and use it to invest elsewhere in assets that generate some kind of return.

For years, the place to get money on the cheap has been Japan, where interest rates have held steadily at or near zero.

End Of The Google Era

A federal judge's historic decision Monday declaring Google a monopoly is the strongest sign yet that the Google Age of the internet has run its course.

Google isn't going anywhere, and it will remain a digital Goliath — but its ability to set and control the agenda for the tech industry's future is waning.

Wisconsin Headlines

Milwaukee Hotel Security Workers Charged With Felony Murder In Death Of Black Man Pinned Down Outside

Prosecutors charged four Milwaukee hotel employees Tuesday with being a party to felony murder in connection with D'Vontaye Mitchell's death.

According to a criminal complaint, the four employees dragged Mitchell out of the Hyatt Hotel on June 30 after Mitchell entered a woman's bathroom and held him on his stomach for eight or nine minutes. The guards are seen on cellphone video footage holding Mitchell down on the hotel's driveway. They are heard in the video telling Mitchell to "stay down" and "stop fighting."

Wisconsin School Superintendent Faces Third Drunk Driving Conviction

A western Wisconsin school superintendent is facing his second drunk driving-related criminal charge in just four months.

The Barron County Attorney's Office says 56-year-old Barry Rose was charged on July 2 with his third OWI (operating while intoxicated) and a count of operating a motor vehicle with a revoked license.

Rose is from Cumberland, about an hour east of Taylors Falls, Minnesota. He leads the Cumberland School District.

St. Croix County Residents Question New Owner Of Large Dairy Farm With A History Of Manure Spills

Gregg Wolf vows “to put a new step forward” on “a new day” at a western Wisconsin dairy.

Appleton-based Breeze Dairy Group, where he serves as CEO, purchased Emerald Sky Dairy in March, shortly after the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources approved the St. Croix County farm’s expansion.

Along with 2,400 spotted cows, four odiferous freestall barns and a milking parlor, the company acquired an undesired aspect of the $11 million property: the dairy’s checkered reputation.

Fifth Inmate Dies At Waupun Prison As Its Former Warden Pleads Not Guilty To Felony Misconduct Charge

The former warden at a maximum security Wisconsin prison where multiple inmates have died over the last year pleaded not guilty on Aug. 6 to a misconduct charge as legislators intensified their scrutiny of the state’s troubled corrections system.

Five inmates have died at Waupun Correctional Institution since June 2023. The latest, Christopher McDonald, was found dead at the facility on the morning of Aug. 5, according to the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office.

First LGBTQ+ Historic Landmark In Wisconsin Dedicated In Milwaukee

Sixty-three years ago, a group of customers at a Milwaukee gay bar led an “uprising” against a few servicemen who were looking for a fight.

This week, a Wisconsin State Historical Marker was dedicated near the site of what became known as The Black Nite Uprising. It’s the first historic marker focused on the LGBTQ+ community in Wisconsin.

“It tells LGBTQ people, like me, that we have a place here in Wisconsin, and Milwaukee — a place that we can be seen, a place where we can be valued, a place where we can be celebrated,” said Tony Snell Rodriguez, the chair of Milwaukee’s Equal Rights Commission, at Monday’s ceremony.