“Help is on its way,” President Donald Trump said in a short but powerful message to Iranian protesters facing an oppressive regime that reportedly is targeting demonstrators.

“Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – Take OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday morning. “I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS…MIGA [Make Iran Great Again].”

The latest message to Iranian protesters comes as the president told reporters over the weekend that he is weighing “strong options” against the Islamic Republic’s regime, inching closer to striking the country for a second time within a year.

Trump told reporters late Sunday evening on board Air Force One that he and the military are looking very seriously at responding to reports that the Iranian regime is killing protesters.

Earlier in the month, the president issued a stern warning to the regime if it retaliated against protesters.

“If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United State of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go,” the president posted to his Truth Social Account.

Trump told reporters Sunday evening that he is receiving “hourly updates” and that he is “looking at some very strong options.”

The president said Iranian officials have reached out to the White House to negotiate. He added that a meeting is being set up, but indicated it may be too little, too late.

“Iran wants to negotiate, yes. We may meet with them … But we may have to act, because of what’s happening, before the meeting,” Trump told reporters.

Now it appears those meetings could be put off indefinitely.

Retaliation against protesters in Iran adds more fuel to the fire as the president is eyeing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

During the last week of December, Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, when the two leaders reportedly discussed the potential of future strikes on Iran if the Islamic Republic attempts to rebuild its nuclear capabilities, after U.S. strikes in June that targeted the country’s nuclear sites.

“I hear Iran is looking to rebuild its facilities again, and if they do we will have to knock them down again,” the president told reporters during a news conference in late December. “We’re going to have no choice but very quickly to eradicate that build up. So I hope Iran is not trying to build up, as I’ve been reading.”

The civil uprising in Iran follows a pattern of Iranian citizens protesting the brutal regime’s grip on its citizens. The most recent unrest occurred in 2019, with one of the most significant events taking place in 2009, known as the Green Movement, which resulted in millions of Iranian citizens demonstrating against the government.

(The Center Square) - A bill that would make grooming a felony in Wisconsin is now headed to the Senate.

Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, said she was compelled to propose the bill after the Kenosha case of a teacher that led to 12 misdemeanors and sentence of 450 days in jail and three years of probation.

During that case, Nedweski said prosecutors were looking for an enhanced charge and she began working to create a specific grooming law. The legislation was then introduced soon after a series of investigative stories from The Capital Times highlighted how state Department of Public Instruction investigations into 200 cases of sexual misconduct and grooming in Wisconsin schools had been concealed.

Assembly Bill 677 passed the Assembly with a 93-6 vote and is scheduled for the Senate Committee on Education.

DPI supported the legislation, saying that it aggressively moves to act swiftly and decisively to protect children and “a clear statutory definition of grooming will support that work, giving the department and law enforcement additional means to protect students.”

“AB 677 treats grooming as the serious crime that it is, closing the gap in state law and giving prosecutors greater ability to hold predators accountable and give families and victims the justice that they deserve,” Nedweski said in a statement after the bill passed the Assembly. “This bill specifically targets the intentional, calculated, and manipulative behaviors that predators use to exploit our children’s innocence.”

The Kenosha case involved former teacher Christian Enwright, who was convicted of the misdemeanors after evidence of thousands of text messages over two school years with a then-12-year-old student were shown in court.

The new law would make grooming a felony charge that could lead to 10 years in prison, with further penalty if the offender was in a position of trust over the victim, if there are multiple victims, or if the victim has a disability.

The bill defines grooming as “a course of conduct, pattern of behavior, or series of acts with the intention to condition, seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a child for the purpose of engaging in sexual intercourse or sexual contact or for the purpose of producing, distributing, or possessing depictions of the child engaged in sexually explicit conduct.”

“I have seen firsthand that grooming is frequently a deliberate, gradual process; one that may unfold over weeks or months and often occurs through digital communication, emotional manipulation, isolation, or the abuse of trust,” bill sponsor Sen. Jesse James, R-Thorp, wrote in testimony for the bill. “By the time enticement or physical contact occurs, substantial harm has already been done. This bill allows law enforcement to intervene earlier in that process, when prevention is still possible.”

President Donald Trump returned to Michigan on Tuesday to tout the economy and the auto industry.

During his visit, Trump spoke to the Detroit Economic Club and visited a Ford plant in Dearborn. During his speech, he praised his first year in office as an economic success – pointing to dropping inflation and gas prices.

“Who knew it was going to turn out this well,” Trump said. “After less than 12 months in office, I’m back in Michigan to report to you on the strongest and fastest economic turnaround in our country’s history.”

In his speech, the president also defended his tariff policies.

“The Trump Tariffs have delivered us trillions of dollars of new investment,” he said. “They brought hundreds of billions of dollars pouring into the United States Treasury, helped curb inflation, and helped cut the federal budget deficit by a staggering 27%.”

A number of states and businesses have challenged his authority to put those in place and that is currently under consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court, with a decision expected by June.

Just before the president took the stage in Detroit, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its much-anticipated Consumer Price Index for December.

It found that consumer prices climbed 2.7% over the last year, before seasonal adjusting. Trump applauded the report’s numbers.

“Biden gave us a colossal stagflation catastrophe, but my administration has rapidly and very decisively ended that,” he said. “We have quickly achieved the exact opposite of stagflation – almost no inflation and super high growth.”

While 2026 inflation dropped significantly from 2022’s high of about 6.5%, a recent poll found that Michiganders are still feeling the effects of higher prices.

A poll conducted by WDIV and Detroit News asked voters from across the state a number of different questions, including one on what impact they think Trump’s economic policies have had on the nation’s economy.

In response to that question, 38% said “stronger,” 48% said “weaker,” and 10% said “no impact.” That could be a bellwether for Republicans going into the midterm election, especially in a swing state like Michigan which helped push Trump over the finish line to an election win in 2024.

Possibly sensing that Americans’ continued concerns about the cost of living, the president also laid out future plans to try to address that. Those plans include banning large institutional investors from buying single-family homes, capping credit card interest rates, and announcing a “healthcare affordability framework.”

Investments into the car industry was another highlight of Trump’s trip.

Michigan saw companies like Stallantis and JR Automation announce millions of dollars in investments in the state last year. On this trip, Trump stopped by a Ford factory to focus on that company’s recent growth.

“We have a great relationship with the president and his whole staff,” said Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford. “We couldn’t be more excited. We’re adding market share. We’re growing as a company. We’re adding jobs.”

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced Monday he will not seek a third term in 2026.

Walz was first elected to the position of Minnesota governor in 2018 after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives beginning since 2007. He ran unsuccessfully as Vice President alongside Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in 2024.

Walz decision not to seek a third term comes amidst allegations of fraud with federal dollars in Minnesota. In November, a report alleged millions of taxpayer dollars were stolen from Minnesota's welfare system and sent to a Somali-based terror group.

Fraud allegations intensified when independent journalist Nick Shirley posted a video that claimed to reveal $110 million in fraudulent federal support sent to Minnesota day cares.

The Minnesota governor is expected to testify before Congress on Feb. 10 in response to allegations of fraud in the state.

Without an incumbent Democrat in the race for Minnesota governor, the 2026 primary election will likely be a heated contest as contestants vie for their parties nomination to the governor's mansion.

The Republican primary for governor already includes Minnesota Speaker of the House Lisa Demuth; CEO of the pillow company MyPillow, Mike Lindell; and former state senator and 2022 gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen.

Demuth criticized Walz's decision to step down and pointed to the allegations of financial fraud plaguing the state in a post on social media.

"Democrat in Minnesota has spent years enabling criminals who stole our tax dollars, with still no meaningful accountability and no end in sight to the billions in fraud that still plagues nearly every government program imaginable thanks to 16 years of Democrat control," Demuth wrote on social media.

Minnesota's primary election is set for Aug. 11.

(The Center Square) – 2025 was a deadlier year in Milwaukee after the city’s police department reported a jump in homicides last year.

Milwaukee’s homicide database shows 142 people were killed in the city in 2025, compared to 132 in 2024. That is an 8% increase.

Milwaukee Police are not offering any thoughts as to why more people were killed in 2025 than 2024.

Mayor Cavalier Johnson told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the spike in homicides is “vexing.”

The murder increase in Milwaukee stands out, in part, because 2025 saw fewer murders in most big cities. Washington, D.C reported a 31% drop in homicides, while Chicago reported 30% fewer killings. New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and New Orleans also reported a drop in homicides in 2025.

Nationwide, the FBI said homicides fell almost 20% in the last year.

Milwaukee did see a double digit drop in other crimes, however.

The police database shows a 19% drop in non-fatal shootings. Milwaukee Police say 515 people were shot and survived in 2025, down from 637 in 2024.

Aggravated assaults fell 22%, and robberies dropped 28%. But the biggest year-over-year decline in crime in Milwaukee came from carjacking cases.

The police database reported a 49% drop in carjackings, from 513 in 2024 down to 264 in 2025.

Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate are reacting to President Donald Trump's announcement of the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

In a post to social media, Trump announced the U.S. carried out a "large scale strike" against Venezuela, capturing Maduro and his wife.

The two are in U.S. custody and charged with "narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the U.S.," according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., praised Trump's decision-making and called Maduro an illegitimate dictator. He said the Venezuelan leader was running a "vast drug-trafficking operation."

Cotton also said he was briefed on Maduro's capture by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He said Rubio confirmed Maduro was in U.S. custody.

"The interim government in Venezuela must now decide whether to continue the drug trafficking and colluding with adversaries like Iran and Cuba or whether to act like a normal nation and return to the civilized world," Cotton said. "I urge them to choose wisely."

Similarly, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said she fully supports Trump's actions in Venezuela.

"Nicolas Maduro will face justice on American soil," Blackburn said. "I fully support the Trump administration for doing what is needed to protect American lives."

House Republican chair Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., also emphatically backed President Trump's decision-making in a post on social media.

"President Trump has cracked down on drug trafficking harder than any President in history," McClain wrote. "Maduro is a narco-terrorist. Period. His illegitimate regime floods our country with deadly drugs and Americans pay the price. President Trump didn’t look the other way; he acted. That’s what leadership looks like, and it’s how you protect the American people."

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(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s Republican Assembly leaders say they will begin impeachment proceedings if Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan does not resign from her post immediately following a felony obstruction conviction Thursday evening.

Dugan was found guilty of obstructing as Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were attempting to arrest a defendant in her court outside of the courtroom.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August, R-Walworth, sent a statement Friday noting that the last Wisconsin judge was impeached in 1853 but that the Assembly would begin impeachment proceedings if Dugan doesn’t resign.

Dugan’s legal team indicated Thursday that she would appeal the jury’s decision.

“Under a 1976 Attorney General Opinion, Democrat Bronson La Follette stated that when a State Senator was convicted of a felony, a vacancy was created, and the Senator ‘was effectually divested of any right or title to the office. His status with reference to the office was fixed at the time of his conviction,’ the leaders wrote. “Such is the case here, and Judge Dugan must recognize that the law requires her resignation.

“Wisconsinites deserve to know their judiciary is impartial and that justice is blind. Judge Hannah Dugan is neither, and her privilege of serving the people of Wisconsin has come to an end.”

The jury found Dugan not guilty of a misdemeanor charge of concealing related to defendant Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, who was later arrested on the street outside the courthouse and has since been deported.

The obstruction charge could lead to up to five years in prison.

The Assembly leaders cited the Wisconsin constitution, which says “‘[n]o person convicted of a felony, in any court within the United States, no person convicted in federal court of a crime designated, at the time of commission, under federal law as a misdemeanor involving a violation of public trust and no person convicted, in a court of a state, of a crime designated, at the time of commission, under the law of the state as a misdemeanor involving a violation of public trust shall be eligible to any office of trust, profit or honor in this state unless pardoned of the conviction.”

“While we are disappointed in today’s outcome, the failure of the prosecution to secure convictions on both counts demonstrates the opportunity we have to clear Judge Dugan’s name and show she did nothing wrong in the matter,” her legal team said after the verdict was read. “We have planned for this potential outcome and our defense of Judge Dugan is just beginning.”

(The Center Square) – Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan was found guilty of a felony charge of obstruction by a jury Thursday in a case involving the judge’s actions related to a defendant in her court that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were attempting to arrest outside of the courtroom.

The jury returned the verdict at 8:38 p.m. Central Time.

The jury found Dugan not guilty of a misdemeanor charge of concealing related to defendant Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, who was later arrested on the street outside the courthouse and has since been deported.

The obstruction charge could lead to up to a $100,000 fine and a year in prison.

“While we are disappointed in today’s outcome, the failure of the prosecution to secure convictions on both counts demonstrates the opportunity we have to clear Judge Dugan’s name and show she did nothing wrong in the matter,” her legal team said. “We have planned for this potential outcome and our defense of Judge Dugan is just beginning.”

Video from the courthouse depicts Dugan speaking with ICE officers in the hallway outside her courtroom and defendant Flores-Ruiz walking through a back hallway with a person identified in an affidavit as his attorney before heading to an elevator and then being chased down and arrested on the street outside of the courthouse.

Four alleged members of a pro-Palestine terror group were arrested in connection with alleged plans for New Year’s Eve bombings across Southern California.

Authorities announced the arrests during a news conference Monday with First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, FBI Assistant Director in Charge Akil Davis and Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna.

Essayli said all four suspects are from the Los Angeles area. He said one suspect created a plan to bomb five or more locations across Los Angeles and Orange County, with step-by-step instructions on building improvised explosive devices.

The arrests were made last week in Lucerne Valley, which is east of Los Angeles.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI prevented the bombings.

“The Turtle Island Liberation Front — a far-left, pro-Palestine, anti-government, and anti-capitalist group — was preparing to conduct a series of bombings against multiple targets in California beginning on New Year’s Eve,” Bondi posted on X. “The group also planned to target ICE agents and vehicles.”

Bondi credited “an incredible effort” and "intense investigation" by the FBI and the U.S, Attorney’s Offices for foiling the plot.

“We will continue to pursue these terror groups and bring them to justice,” Bondi said.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin all-terrain and utility task vehicle drivers now must follow Wisconsin laws on where they can drive the vehicles and must pay trail registration fees regardless of where the vehicle is registered.

The bill was recently signed into law by Gov. Tony Evers and it became Wisconsin Act 64.

The law requires any ATV or UTV to follow state law based upon how Wisconsin would classify the vehicle regardless of what the title says for the state where the vehicle is registered.

Lawmakers said the goal of the bill was to close a loophole where Wisconsin UTV and ATV owners would register a vehicle in South Dakota and Montana but drive it in Wisconsin.

“They’re contacting people in Wisconsin and saying ‘Hey, if you register your UTV to an LLC in Montana or South Dakota, we can license that as a motor vehicle, not as an ATV or UTV,’” sponsor Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, said during a public hearing on the bill. “And, because of that, they tell Wisconsin residents that you can now use this motor vehicle on any road in the state of Wisconsin.”

The current system of UTV and ATV routes and trails in the state and laws on using those vehicles are locally regulated and usage is determined on the local level.

The new law allows nonresidents access to all Wisconsin ATV and UTV trails and approved routes with a nonresident trail pass.

The registration system is a tax that allows ATV and UTV owners to pay their way by paying for the trail system, Wisconsin ATV Association President Randy Harden said during a public hearing. This means it is important that out-of-state vehicle owners also pay for using the system.