WSUM Daily Newscast

INTRO GOOD (DAY) EVENING MADISON! YOU’RE LISTENING TO THE 5/6 O’CLOCK NEWS UPDATE ON WSUM 91.7 FM MADISON STUDENT RADIO. I’M TALULA HAYES.

IN THE NEWS TODAY,

IN STATE NEWS,
The Wisconsin Senate passes bills to provide funding to help reduce chemical contamination. The spending is set to 132 million dollars to protect landowners and combat PFAS, or “forever chemicals”, and their effects. The bill is now passed to Gov. Tony Evers to sign off on after years of turmoil between Evers and Republicans. The bi-partisan bill was unanimously passed. The bill outlines protections that certain individuals do not need to clean up contamination they did not cause. Anyone who caused the hazardous spill needs to clean it up. Another bill creates a grant program to halt PFAS contamination and creates funds for emergency bottled water. 80 million dollars in grants were given to local governments and 35 million dollars are set to replace contaminated wells. Nearly 100 public water systems in Wisconsin have PFAS levels above federal drinking water standards. These PFAS chemicals can cause severe health concerns. The chemicals do not break down easily in the environment.
For WSUM News, I’m Charlie Schomaker

ALSO IN STATE NEWS,
Today the Wisconsin Senate tees up to vote on legalizing statewide online sports betting. After passing through the Assembly on February 19th, where it then was on rush order to reach the Senate. The proposed bill, AB 601, would allow Native American tribes to offer statewide mobile sports betting through compacts with states. Currently, online sports wagering is only allowed on tribal lands, otherwise making a bet is a Class B misdemeanor. Even though the legislation holds bipartisan support, major betting companies oppose it due to the required 60% revenue sharing between tribes and the possible limitation of the market. Edward Mullen, an elected representative of Wisconsin's Ho-Chunk Nation described the possible revenue as, Quote “support[ing] tribal governmental functions, sustain[ing] self-sufficiency, and assist[ing] the needs of tribal members," End quote.
For WSUM News, I’m Elise Hendrickson

IN NATIONAL NEWS,
President Trump reveals confidential medical information about a congressman on Monday. Trump was speaking at a Kennedy Center lunch with House Speaker Mike Johnson. They were discussing Representative of Florida Neal Dunn, who is 73 years old. Trump blurted out that he would be dead by June. Speaker Johnson responded saying, Quote “OK, that wasn’t public. But yeah, OK. It was grim, that’s what I was going to say” End-Quote. The conversation began touting Dunn’s resiliency of coming into work with a heart condition. When President Trump found out about his condition, he offered to give him access to Trump’s medical team. Johnson and Trump said Monday that they hope Dunn’s health has improved after the president intervened in his treatment. When Trump was informed of his heart condition, he said it was bad number one because he liked him and number two because he needed his vote. Trump then turned the attention to his chief of staff Susie Wiles saying she was diagnosed with breast cancer but she will be here for a very long time.
For WSUM News, I’m Nathan Jahn

ALSO IN NATIONAL NEWS,
The director of the National Counterterrorism Center and Trump nominee resigns over Iran’s war on Tuesday. Joe Kent said he is resigning due to the U.S.-Israeli joint military strikes in Iran which he cannot support. He said on social media that “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation”, which Trump denied. Kent, a Republican figure, was confirmed last July on a 52-44 vote. He analyzed and detected terrorist threats in the U.S. Trump has offered multiple, changing reasons for the strikes and claims the U.S. struck without being forced by Israel. Trump said he thought Kent was “weak on security” and does not support his decision, saying “Iran was a tremendous threat”. One year ago, Trump nominated Kent and praised his work fighting against terrorism.

PASSING IT OVER TO SPORTS, HERE’S WITH AN UPDATE
World Baseball Classic final set after Team USA and Venezuela win in semifinals. The game will be tonight at 7pm. Team USA beat the Dominican Republic 2 to 1 in a highly contested matchup. The Dominican took the lead early but the USA answered back with solo home runs from Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony. The controversy occurred when there were 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th with a full count and a pitch a couple inches below the zone was called a strike to end the game. Venezuela was victorious over surprising upstart team Italy 4 to 2. The game was slow coming out of the gates, with Venezuela down 2 to 1 through six innings. Then after four straight hits, the Venezuelans took a 4 to 2 lead and never looked back. Team USA has one Brewer, starting second baseman Brice Turang. Venezuela has 3, catcher William Contreras, 22-year-old centerfielder Jackson Chourio and relief pitcher Angel Zerpa.
For WSUM News, I’m Nathan Jahn

OUTRO: THANK YOU FOR TUNING IN! FROM THE WSUM NEWS BOOTH, I’M TALULA HAYES. HAVE A GREAT EVENING MADISON!