News from around the nation.

Trump to roll out sweeping new tariffs; Federal moves leave MN farmers in state of limbo; Chicago nonprofit transforms former toxic site to feed community; Groups advocate for more civic engagement in WA prisons.

Transcript

The Public News Service Wednesday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

President Donald Trump's long-threatened reciprocal tariffs are expected to be announced today.

It's the latest development in Trump's effort to shift global trade by levying taxes against goods shipped into the United States.

That from NBC News.

They report Trump's tariff threats have not been well-received by businesses and consumers.

Stocks have erased their gains since his election in November, while consumer confidence has plummeted.

And with a new wave of tariffs today, and with USDA funding still a question mark, Minnesota farmers are having trouble planning ahead.

In western Minnesota, Cindy VanderPol and her husband operate Pastures of Plenty Farm.

They're monitoring market upheavals due to tariffs, and also just saw a one-year pause in federal grants to help supply locally grown food to schools.

She says all this makes it hard to map up what they need to buy for the year.

Do we go and purchase more laying hens?

Do we purchase broiler chickens to be processed later on?

She says these are moves they would have already made.

VanderPol says the uncertainty doesn't just potentially limit her farm's output, but also demand for local meat processors.

I'm Mike Moen.

And a local environmental organization is showing how, with time, resources and community, toxic land that once served to pollute the neighborhood can be reclaimed to feed it instead.

The Little Village Environmental Justice Organization in Chicago took decades to restore lands that once was deemed a Superfund site by the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency.

Now it's a 21-acre neighborhood park that El Viejo director Juliana Pino says feeds the community and its rights for sovereignty.

And fighting back about this idea that corporations, the government, could decide people in this neighborhood are expendable, they shouldn't be participating in visioning about the future, they don't have things to bring.

We get to choose what kind of labor they engage in and that extended to the food system.

Through its community farm and garden that sits just outside of the park, El Viejo has harvested and distributed nearly 16,000 pounds of produce and served more than 50,000 meals to the neighborhood.

I'm Judith Ruiz Branch Reporting.

This story produced with original reporting by Angela Burke for Civil Eats.

And a bill known as the Act for Civic Engagement did not make it out of committee in Olympia before the deadline, but advocates for people who are incarcerated say they're not giving up.

Karen Pesey was formerly incarcerated and now works with the advocacy group I Did Time.

She says when people behind bars are able to stay engaged in politics in their communities, it reduces recidivism.

They feel like they're a bigger part of society and an important part of society because they're helping to make it better.

The Act would ensure that people in Washington prisons and other facilities are able to form political organizations, communicate with community groups and elected officials, and access spaces for meetings.

This is Public News Service.

Indiana lawmakers are considering a statewide ban on marijuana advertising after a House committee approved an amendment on Monday.

We get the details from our Joe Ulori.

Republican Representative Jim Pressel of La Porte said his district near the Michigan border is flooded with billboards and mailers promoting dispensaries and nearby New Buffalo.

This is an issue in Northern Indiana for sure in my district and as I talk to other legislators from Northern Indiana.

We are inundated with billboards that advertise marijuana.

The proposal expands on a previous Senate plan that targeted billboards by prohibiting ads for illegal marijuana in all forms.

Lobbyists for the advertising industry argue the move is government overreach.

And a bill in the Maryland General Assembly would regulate cryptocurrency kiosks, the more than 700 ATM-like machines for virtual currencies around the state.

The FBI received more than 4,400 complaints about those kiosks in 2023, according to a report on cryptocurrency scams.

Nearly 60 percent of complaints came from people over the age of 60.

The legislation would establish registration and operating requirements for the kiosks in the state, enforced by the Commissioner for Financial Regulation.

Tammy Bresnahan with AARP Maryland says crypto kiosks have become a new way for scammers to target people.

These kiosks have become a really haven for scammers to call people to say there's a problem with your account, you need to take money, $4,500 in cash and deposit into this nearby cryptocurrency kiosk because your account has been compromised.

The total losses from cryptocurrency kiosks in 2023 exceeded $150 million.

I'm Simone Perez.

Other states like Minnesota and Vermont have already passed legislation regulating these virtual currency kiosks.

Finally, registration is open for the next information session for the Doswell School of Aeronautical Sciences at Texas Women's University in Denton.

Students accepted into the program will study to earn their pilot's license.

TWU is the only woman-based university nationwide with a professional pilot's program.

Professor Clinton Grant says it's a hands-on curriculum.

Once they go through all the steps to get into the program and the semester starts, within a week or so, they're in an airplane flying.

It's not something they have to wait later as junior, senior years before they get into it.

We're learning as quickly as we can.

So it's a lot of fun.

The program is limited to 25 students in the fall and spring semesters.

The next information session is April 11th.

I'm Freda Ross reporting.

The aeronautics program is still early on.

The first classes were held in 2024.

Grant says they'll grow and they'll have more options for students.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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