Morning Headlines - Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025

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

Federal Judge Blocks Trump Firing Of Fed’s Lisa Cook For Now

A federal judge late Tuesday temporarily blocked President Trump’s attempted ouster of Federal Reserve board of governors member Lisa Cook.

U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb acknowledged that the firing and Cook’s subsequent legal challenge raise “many serious questions” that the courts have not mulled before, but said that at this preliminary stage, Cook made a “strong showing” that her removal violated the Federal Reserve Act’s “for cause” provision.

The judge explained that the “best reading” of the provision is that the premise of a Fed governor’s removal is limited to grounds concerning their behavior in office and whether they have been “faithfully and effectively” executing their statutory duties.

Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones As Ukraine Warns Putin Is ‘Testing The West’

Poland’s military on Wednesday decried an “unprecedented violation” as the country’s airspace was breached by a number of Russian drones that were shot down.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Poland’s military said it scrambled its own and NATO air defenses to take down drones that entered its airspace amid a widespread Russian attack in western Ukraine.

In a social media post, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he was in constant communication with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and with the country’s allies after Polish airspace was violated by a “huge number” of Russian drones.

Kamala Harris Calls Biden’s Decision To Run ‘Recklessness’

Former Vice President Harris suggests in her upcoming book that former President Biden’s decision to run for reelection last year amounted to “recklessness.”

“And of all the people in the White House, I was in the worst position to make the case that he should drop out,” Harris said in an excerpt for “107 Days,” published early Wednesday by The Atlantic. “I knew it would come off to him as incredibly self-serving if I advised him not to run. He would see it as naked ambition, perhaps as poisonous disloyalty, even if my only message was: Don’t let the other guy win.”

COVID No Longer Leading Cause Of Death: CDC

The United States death rate decreased by 3.8% in 2024 as COVID fell out of the top 10 leading causes of death for the first time in four years, new provisional federal data shows.

The overall rate declined from 750.5 per 100,000 people in 2023 to 722 per 100,000, according to the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

This marks the lowest death rate recorded since 2020, during the first full year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and follows declines that began in 2022.

Democrat James Walkinshaw To Win Virginia House Race, Narrowing GOP's Edge In Congress

Democratic candidate James Walkinshaw is projected to win a special election Tuesday to represent a Northern Virginia congressional district once held by the late Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly, according to The Associated Press.

Walkinshaw, a Fairfax County supervisor, defeated Republican Stewart Whitson, a former FBI special agent. He previously served as Connolly's chief of staff and was endorsed by the congressman prior to his death.

Walkinshaw's win will further narrow the House GOP's majority to 219-213.

Wisconsin Headlines

Assembly Republicans introduce 'Bill of Rights' for teachers

Assembly Republicans introduced a series of education bills on Tuesday, including one targeting Wisconsin's teacher shortage by trying to address student behavior. The legislation aims to create a 'Bill of Rights' for teachers.

"Since the onset of the pandemic, verbal aggression between students and toward teachers has doubled. Physical aggression between students and toward teachers has doubled," said Daniel Bach, a policy analyst at American Enterprise Institute.

Wisconsin Agriculture Regulators Propose Massive Fee Increases For Livestock Industry

Wisconsin livestock markets, dealers and truckers would see massive fee increases under a rule change proposed by state agriculture regulators.

Some fees would increase by nearly 1,700 percent, and a Republican state lawmaker says the Legislature can’t block the proposed changes because of a July ruling from the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

The fee increases proposed by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, or DATCP, would affect auction barns, livestock dealers and truckers who transport animals like cows and pigs.

How Are Jobs In Wisconsin Projected To Change Over The 2020s And Into The 2030s?

When Wisconsin Watch launched a new pathways to success beat focused on jobs and job training in the spring of 2025, it set out to learn how Wisconsinites are building family-sustaining careers and what’s standing in their way.

Doing that required knowing how the job tides are changing in Wisconsin. What jobs are growing the fastest? Which are shrinking? What will be the most common jobs in the coming years, and what do they pay? The six charts below use state and federal data to answer those questions.

Wisconsin Kayaker Who Faked His Death And Fled To Asia Says Plan Was A ‘Crazy, Emotional Dream’

A Wisconsin kayaker who faked his own death so he could start a new life with a woman in the country of Georgia texted his wife he loved her on the night he executed the plan, telling her he had gone to the lake to watch the northern lights.

Emily Borgwardt woke up alone the next morning, her desperate texts of “Where are you????” and “Babe?” going unanswered. By that point her husband, Ryan Borgwardt, had already overturned his kayak on Green Lake and biked through the night to catch a bus to Canada, the first leg on his journey to the Georgian capital of Tibilsi to meet a Ukranian woman he was secretly courting online.

Archery And Crossbow Hunting Seasons Open Sept. 13

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reminds hunters that the archery and crossbow deer hunting seasons open Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025. The two seasons run through Jan. 4, 2026, except in the counties and metro subunits that have extended seasons open until Jan. 31, 2026.

The early archery and crossbow seasons are great opportunities for hunters to harvest antlerless deer before they change their patterns and experience additional hunting pressure during the gun deer season.