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 NATHAN JAHN.

IN THE NEWS TODAY,

IN STATE NEWS,
Wisconsin files appeal regarding denial of federal funding from storm damage. Last month, the Federal Emergency Management Agency decided to deny disaster relief aid to the state over severe flooding in August. They denied Wisconsin’s request for Public Assistance and hazard mitigation, saying the requests aren’t warranted. State officials say the damage total is more than double Wisconsin's threshold for FEMA Public Assistance, which typically qualifies communities for federal aid. Evers said, Quote "Our communities are facing an uphill battle repairing and rebuilding in the wake of extreme flooding and severe weather this August. Wisconsinites need help, and they deserve to know the Trump Administration isn't going to leave them behind." The storms caused over 25 million dollars in damages across six counties. The storms damaged homes, businesses, and public infrastructure. FEMA funding is typically used to restore public infrastructure like damaged roads and bridges.

IN NATIONAL NEWS,
President Trump announces a timeline for issuing $2,000 tariff rebate checks. Trump plans to rebate checks at some point in mid-to-late 2026, paying back the money Americans raised from tariffs. This money is of the hundreds of millions of dollars gained in tariff money being given to individuals of moderate income. The idea was first proposed on Truth Social media platform earlier this month, with scarce details and a lack of income limits and whether payments would go to children. Budget experts are skeptical of the idea. John Ricco, an analyst with the Budget Lab at Yale University, calculated that Trump’s tariffs would bring around 200-300 billion dollars a year in revenue; however, with a 2,000 dollar dividend, the cost would be 600 billion dollars. This decision could not be completed through Trump entirely himself, it would need to be passed through legislation from Congress.
For WSUM News, I am Talula Hayes.

IN NATIONAL NEWS,
Kroger is closing three automated fulfillment centers to make deliveries more efficient. The facilities being closed due to cost-cutting efforts are located in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin; Frederick, Maryland; and Groveland, Florida in January. For the remaining five facilities, Kroger will monitor their performance. These stores came from Kroger’s partnership with British grocery technology company Ocado Group in 2018 to build warehouses run by robots. Kroger plans on opening 20 locations with robots packing delivery orders, however only 8 have been built so far. The company is set to incur a 2.6 billion dollar charge in its fiscal third quarter due to the closure of these facilities, with them claiming these actions are set to improve e-commerce by 400 million dollars in 2026. Ocado Group’s shares fell 16% on Tuesday in the London Stock exchange, while Kroger’s shares were up 1% in the New York stock exchange. With the utilization of stores themselves, Kroger claims they can deliver orders in less than 2 hours from 97% of its 2,700 US stores.
For WSUM News, I am Talula Hayes.

IN INTERNATIONAL NEWS,
There was a train attack on a Polish Railway this past weekend. Described as a quote “act of state terror” by Poland’s Top Diplomat, the recent train attack on Polish railways damaged an important artery of aid between Ukraine and Poland. Two Ukrainian citizens working for Russia have been accused of the sabotage on the tracks leaving nobody hurt. In response, Poland will close the last Russian consulate in the country leaving only an embassy in Warsaw. Poland’s foreign minister, Radek Sikorski, stated Quote “I have decided to withdraw consent for the operation of the last Russian consulate in Gdansk.” and also mentioned the incident as quote “ act of state terror as its clear intention was to cause human casualties” end quote. Promptly, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow will “quote reduce Poland’s diplomatic and consular presence in Russia end quote.” In a separate incident power lines over the same rail line further south were damaged.
For WSUM News I am Matt Catalani

IN ECONOMIC NEWS,
The Bureau of Labor and Statistics says that some data from the shutdown is gone for good. They announced a schedule today for their data releases over the coming months. Notably, the October jobs report will not be released independently. A part of the October jobs report that surveys employers will come out with the November jobs report in mid-December, slightly later than previously scheduled, along with data on job turnover. But the agency said that it could not retroactively collect surveys from households, which determine the unemployment rate. The October data is expected to show negative job growth purely from the federal workers who were furloughed. The job reports have major implications for the Fed, where officials are debating whether to lower rates next month. A possible cut has long been pushed for by President Trump, but officials warn that overcutting could be a disaster for an already struggling economy.

TURNING OVER TO SPORTS, HERE’S WITH AN UPDATE
Two NHL players under 20 years old record a hat trick for the second time in history. Yesterday, Macklin Celebrini and Conner Bedard recorded three goals in a game. Bedard earned the first star with three goals and no assists in the Blackhawks 5-2 victory over the Flames at home. The win moves the team to 10-5-4. Later that night, Celebrini scored all three goals for the Sharks to help defeat the Utah Mammoth. The game went into overtime with the Sharks winning 3 to 2. Both Mammoth goals were scored by JJ Peterka. The win moves the Sharks to 9-8-3 on the year. Celibibrini is 19 and Bedard is 20 years old. The last time that this happened was in 1944 when teammates Bud Poile and Jack Hamilton scored 7 of the Bruin’s 10 goals.

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