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 CAMPUS NEWS,
 UW-Madison College of Letters & Sciences Dean, Dr. Eric Wilcots, is named interim chancellor. University of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman announced Wilcot's acceptance of the position following Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin’s departure to serve as Columbia University’s chancellor. Wilcots will take over the position on May 17 after his time leading the largest UW college since May of 2020. He began his career at UW as a lecturer in the Department of Astronomy in 1995 and later was a co-chair for the Wisconsin Science Festival steering committee. He served as the interim provost in 2023. In an email sent to UW L&S students, Wilcots ensured the L&S department’s security during this transition, as Chancellor Mnookin will take over the provost spot for deciding interim leadership for L&S later this spring. Before his transition takes place, Wilcots will continue to develop budget requests for the College as well as lead the opening of Irving and Dorothy Levy Hall, the new hub for humanities and qualitative social sciences, in September. “He is a collaborative leader who values dialogue, engagement, and shared governance and deeply believes in the transformative power of the Wisconsin Idea,” Chancellor Mnookin said in an email to UW students.

IN NATIONAL NEWS,
Federal Aviation Administration shuts down and re-opens El Paso airport, after differing messages from President Trump and the FAA on Wednesday. Tuesday night, the FAA announced that the El Paso airport and surrounding airspace would be shut down for the next 10 days, without giving a reason. President Trump responded by giving his own, saying that it was shut down because of Mexican cartel drones. Today, the airspace was reopened, again without explanation. Two people who were briefed by the FAA revealed that it was shut down because of the US Defense Department’s anti drone technology, contrary to what President Trump said. The Defense Department has been testing laser technology to shoot down drones coming across the Southern border. They thought that a drone was crossing the border and shot it down, before it was revealed to be a party balloon. Fearing the technology, the FAA decided to shut down the airspace and not risk anything. Quote “You cannot restrict airspace over a major city without coordinating with the city, the airport, the hospitals, the community leadership” End-Quote, said El Paso mayor Renard Johnson. 
For WSUM News, I’m Nathan Jahn


IN INTERNATIONAL NEWS,
9 killed in a mass shooting at school and home in British Columbia, Canada on Tuesday. The shooting, occurring around 1:20 p.m. at the school, left seven people dead with two more found dead in their home, Canadian authorities said Tuesday. The sole-suspect was found dead inside the school from a self-inflicted injury. Over 27 people have been reported as injured, including two people who were airlifted to a hospital with life threatening injuries. The shooting occurred at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in the Canadian Rockies which has around 160 students. The suspect, Jesse Van Rootselaar, an 18-year-old from Tumbler Ridge, was identified, the commanding officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said. Rootselaar, who owned an expired firearms license, was not currently attending the school and had dropped out around four years ago. Police officers arrived on scene within two minutes and officers evacuated over 100 students and faculty members once it was determined safe. This is the deadliest attack Canada has faced since 2020 when a gunman in Nova Scotia killed 13 people and set fires which left nine dead.

IN ECONOMIC NEWS, 
Three regional Federal Reserve Bank presidents reaffirmed that they would be reluctant to cut interest rates further. Speaking separately at events yesterday and this morning, Jeffrey Schmid, Lorie Logan, and Beth Hammack all said they believe the Fed’s monetary policy stance is about right. Schmid, the president of the Kansas City Fed and one of the most hawkish members of the Federal Open Market Committee last year, said that the Fed must stay focused on hitting its 2 percent inflation target or risk entrenching inflation closer to 3 percent in the long run. Schmid dissented against two of the Fed’s three rate cuts last fall. While he does not have a vote this year, fellow hawks Logan, of the Dallas Fed, and Hammack, of the Cleveland Fed, have rotated into voting seats on the FOMC. Logan said in remarks yesterday that the Fed’s current rate target is very close to estimates of the neutral rate of interest: the setting that neither accelerates nor inhibits growth. She said she was optimistic that the outlook for the labor market had stabilized after a weak fall that prompted the FOMC’s earlier rate cuts, but warned that loose fiscal policy and buoyancy in financial markets could make it difficult to get inflation down to 2 percent. Hammack also pointed to increases in healthcare and electricity costs, and said it was too early to know whether those spikes have peaked. Policymakers are widely expected to hold the federal funds target range steady when the FOMC meets again in mid-March. For WSUM News, I’m Daniel Stein.

PASSSING IT OVER TO SPORTS, HERE’S NATHAN JAHN  WITH AN UPDATE
Badgers knock off top 10 ranked Illinois on the road. The Wisconsin Men’s Basketball team travelled to Urbana-Champaign to take on the 8th best team in the country and returned home with a 92 to 90 victory. The Badgers were led by their backcourt, as usual, with Nick Boyd scoring 25 points and John Blackwell scoring 24. The Badgers did not turn the ball over for all of the second half, but still found themselves with only a 3% chance to win with 10 minutes left. Illinois also led for 54% of the game, as opposed to the Badgers 34%. Illinois will likely turn to free throws and turnovers as the reason they lost the game, finishing with 13 turnovers and shooting 58% from the stripe, with the Badgers having 4 and 71% respectively. Illinois Head Coach Brad Underwood left his postgame press conference early, after saying, Quote “I’m done talking with people. I don’t get calls. I’m frustrated as heck” End-Quote. The win is the second Badgers top 10 road win, with the other one being number 2 Michigan’s lone loss on the year.
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!