Primary Night, GLP Copycat Lawsuit, & Snake Helmet

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Adam Rogers
August 13, 2026

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Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley narrowly defeated state Rep. Francesca Hong for Wisconsin's Democratic gubernatorial nomination. Crowley had dropped out of the race in July, then re-entered nine days later and received late support from outgoing Gov. Tony Evers. He will face Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany in November.
South Carolina's Republican Senate special primary is headed to an Aug. 25 runoff between interim Sen. Darline Graham, the sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, and Rep. Ralph Norman. Neither secured a majority in the 10-candidate field, leaving voters to decide who advances to November.
In Minnesota, state House Speaker Lisa Demuth defeated former MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Demuth will now try to become the first Republican elected governor of Minnesota in 20 years.

Eli Lilly is suing six companies for selling unauthorized versions of retatrutide, its experimental next-generation weight-loss drug that remains in clinical trials and has not been approved by the FDA. The lawsuits target peptide sellers, a compounding pharmacy, and a California medical spa offering versions of the drug.
Demand has surged as clinical trials suggest retatrutide could outperform existing weight-loss drugs, creating an illicit market ranging from online peptide vendors to convenience stores. Lilly alleges some sellers label retatrutide “for research use only” while marketing products in ways intended for people to inject themselves.
Retatrutide targets three hormone pathways involved in appetite and metabolism and is being studied for obesity and type 2 diabetes. Lilly plans to seek regulatory approval in early 2027 and says the unauthorized products may contain contaminants or other substances that have not undergone regulatory testing.

The Los Angeles Lakers are being sold to investors Josh Kushner and Bob Iger for $12.5 billion, according to ESPN, setting a record for the most expensive sale of a professional sports franchise. The deal requires approval from the NBA's Board of Governors.
Current owner Mark Walter purchased control of the Lakers from the Buss family last year at a roughly $10 billion valuation, which itself was a record at the time. The new deal would represent a 25% increase in the franchise's valuation in less than a year and surpass the $9.6 billion sale of the Seattle Seahawks earlier this year.
Kushner founded venture capital firm Thrive Capital and currently owns a minority stake in the Miami Heat, which he will have to sell. Iger recently stepped down as Disney CEO and is already a controlling owner of the NWSL's Angel City FC.

ICE plans to spend up to $20 million on thousands of gloves capable of delivering painful electric shocks, intended to gain compliance from combative individuals during immigration enforcement operations. (More)

Contractors began clearing portions of Texas’ Big Bend National Park for Trump’s expanded border wall after federal officials waived dozens of environmental regulations to accelerate construction. (More)

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will step down by the end of August to spend more time with family before becoming an outside Trump adviser ahead of November’s midterms. (More)

The death toll from Colombia’s magnitude-7.4 earthquake rose to more than 250 Wednesday, with 2,595 people injured and 222 still missing. (More)

Lebanon became the first Middle Eastern country to abolish capital punishment after lawmakers approved legislation replacing the death penalty with life imprisonment with hard labor. (More)

British driver Andy Green drove a hydrogen-powered car to an average of 406.32 mph at Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats, breaking a world land speed record that had stood since 2004. (More)

US stock markets closed mixed on Wednesday (S&P +0.26%, Nasdaq +0.54%, Dow -0.04%) as investors welcomed a tame inflation report and AI-related shares rallied. (More)

Bank of America plans to deploy $250 billion through July 2027 to finance U.S. digital, energy, and infrastructure projects, which the bank says could create tens of thousands of jobs. (More)

The Social Security Administration added 14 conditions to its Compassionate Allowances program, bringing the total to 314 conditions eligible for expedited disability benefit decisions for people with severe medical conditions. (More)

Italian swimmer Sara Curtis set a world record in the 50-meter backstroke, clocking 26.63 seconds in a European Championships semifinal to break Kaylee McKeown’s 2023 record of 26.86. (More)

Russell Westbrook retired Wednesday after 18 NBA seasons, ending a career that included an MVP award, nine All-Star selections and an NBA-record 209 triple-doubles across seven teams. (More)

Reigning NL Cy Young winner Paul Skenes was pulled after five innings Tuesday amid declining fastball velocity and a difficult nine-start stretch in which he has posted a 5.79 ERA. (More)

Students who attended public school pre-K performed better academically through high school than those receiving family-based child care, according to a 20-year study tracking 400,000 students. (More)

Abdominal fat predicted heart disease and death more accurately than BMI in a study of 260,000 people, with larger waistlines linked to higher risk even among those with low BMIs. (More)

Astronomers discovered a potential new class of cosmic object dubbed a “black hole star,” which resembles an enormous star but emits 100 billion times as much energy as known stars. (More)

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High school football player practices with a venomous snake in his helmet.

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