Morning Headlines - Wednesday, Mar. 18, 2026 | 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

GOP Tempers Flare Over How To Pass SAVE America Act

Tempers are starting to boil within the Senate Republican Conference as disagreements arise over how to handle President Trump’s No. 1 legislative priority, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act, which Trump wants to push through the Senate despite staunch Democratic opposition.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), a leading proponent of the bill, angered some colleagues this week by suggesting on social media that Republican senators who don’t want to force Democrats to wage a “talking filibuster” to oppose the legislation should be ousted from the Senate.

France Ready To Help U.S. Secure Strait Of Hormuz — But Not While Drones And Missiles Are Flying

France’s finance minister said the country is ready to help secure the Strait of Hormuz but not when missiles and drones are attacking ships in the passage.

European countries are reluctant to get involved in the U.S. and Israel’s conflict with Iran, seeing it as a war of choice rather than necessity.

Europe is nonetheless concerned that global food, fertilizer and energy supplies are at risk as a result of the strait being closed, effectively.

Sheriff In Nancy Guthrie Missing Case Faces Recall

An Arizona Republican congressional candidate has initiated a process of recalling Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, the man in charge of the Nancy Guthrie disappearance case.

Daniel Butierez confirmed to NewsNation he has begun the recall process and has hundreds of volunteers collecting signatures to remove Nanos from his position.

Nanos has been criticized for his handling of the search for Guthrie, the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie. The missing 84-year-old was reported missing from her Tucson, Arizona, home Feb 1.

Butierez says the Guthrie search is merely the last domino to fall.

7-Ton Asteroid Lights Up Northeast Ohio Skies, Fragments Above Medina County

A fireball lit up skies across Northeast Ohio Tuesday morning after a seven-ton asteroid entered the atmosphere and broke apart over Medina County, NASA confirmed.

The space agency said the meteor was first detected at 8:57 a.m. off Lake Erie near Lorain. It traveled more than 34 miles through the atmosphere before breaking up, with some fragments falling to the ground.

Astronomer Jay Reynolds explained Tuesday’s experience was once in a lifetime.

Sparse Evidence For Cannabis To Treat Mental Health Conditions Highlights Research Gap

Along with chronic pain, mental health conditions are some of the top reasons people use marijuana for medical purposes.

But a sweeping review of cannabis studies over the past 45 years concludes there is little to no high-quality evidence showing this is effective.

The findings, published in the medical journal The Lancet Psychiatry, underscore the extent to which the public's embrace of cannabis has outpaced the scientific research.

Senate Approves Online Gaming Bill With Half Of GOP Caucus Opposed

The state Senate voted today to open the door to allowing online gaming in Wisconsin as the issue split both Republican and Democratic caucuses over concerns the move would exacerbate the downsides of gambling, including addiction.

The Senate approved the bill 21-12 with nine Republicans — half of the caucus — and three Dems opposed. It now goes to Dem Gov. Tony Evers. If he signs the bill, Evers would then be allowed to negotiate new compacts with Wisconsin’s Native American tribes, who would be the only ones in the state that could offer online gaming.

Vos Warns Wisconsin Senate Inaction On Data Centers Could Cost GOP Votes

Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos criticized his Senate GOP counterparts on Tuesday for letting a bill to regulate data centers die, calling the issue “bigger than most that I have seen in my 22 years.”

Vos made the remarks in a lunchtime event hosted by WisPolitics at the Madison Club, as the state Senate convened inside the Capitol building just up the street for what was expected to be their last day of session of the year.

A bill to regulate data centers that passed the Assembly in January did not make it on the Senate’s agenda. The proposal would have imposed certain data reporting and water recycling requirements on data centers, and made the centers — not consumers — pay for related improvements to the state power grid. It also would have required project owners to revert land back to its original purpose if a data center development plan is not completed.

Wisconsin Senate Narrowly Passes NIL Bill Allocating Funds To UW Schools

The Wisconsin state Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would allocate taxpayer money to University of Wisconsin schools to help navigate new revenue sharing agreements with athletes. The vote was 17-16.

The legislation would grant $200,000 each to UW-Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee. It would also allocate $14.6 million annually for debt service and maintenance of UW-Madison athletic facilities.

Wisconsin Senate Passes $133 Million Package To Address PFAS Contamination

The Wisconsin Legislature sent a $133 million plan to combat contamination from so-called forever chemicals to Gov. Tony Evers for his approval on March 17, promising an end to years of squabbling between the Democratic governor and Republican lawmakers over the issue.

Evers said immediately after the Senate approved the bills on the afternoon of March 17 that he would sign them into law. The rare bipartisan compromise offers at least some hope for the scores of Wisconsin villages, towns and cities grappling with PFAS pollution in their groundwater.

First Use Of New Wisconsin Grooming Law Filed In Criminal Case

Just over a week after Gov. Tony Evers signed Assembly Bill 677 into law, prosecutors have filed the first criminal case in Wisconsin using the state’s new child grooming statute.

Assembly Bill 677, now known as 2025 Wisconsin Act 88, makes grooming a child a felony.

According to a criminal complaint, Joseph Cook, 36, is accused of grooming a child beginning in 2023 and continuing through this month.