News from around the nation.

Markets rebound as Trump signals cutting China tariffs 'substantially'; Second wave of weather employees fired ahead of NM wildfire season; Faith leaders oppose ID law criminalizing homelessness; Federal bill would overturn MA law banning animal confinement.

Transcript

The Public News Service Wednesday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Global markets reversed course following President Donald Trump's shift in tone on both China and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Stocks rebounded, the U.S. dollar strengthened, gold prices retreated as investor sentiment improved.

That's from Euronews.

They report speaking at the White House on Tuesday, Trump stated the tariffs on China would be reduced substantially, though they won't be zero.

In a separate Oval Office meeting, Trump told reporters he had no intention of firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

We head next to New Mexico, where folks worried about wildfires, tornadoes or other severe storms will have less reliable information this season following the massive downsizing of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

Hundreds of climate workers at NOAA are gone after the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a lower court order that had temporarily halted their firings by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.

Speaking at a meeting of the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee, New Mexico Representative Melanie Stansberry said DOGE has left the agency in chaos and disarray.

Court cases, fired staff, the loss of scientists and dismantled and partially dismantled government programs that will take years to restore and that will have life or death consequences for people on the ground.

I'm Roz Brown.

This story was produced with original reporting from Donna Tried for Sentient.

And faith leaders are voicing their opposition to Idaho legislation passed this session that they describe as criminalizing homelessness.

The legislature passed Senate Bill 1141, which bans public sleeping or camping on public property in Idaho cities of 100,000 people or more.

The law goes into effect on July 1st.

The Boise Collective, formerly known as the Boise Faith Group, brings together leaders across faiths.

And the group says the law will only exacerbate the issue of homelessness.

Pete Schroeder is director of local missions with the Cathedral of the Rockies in Boise.

That act of ticketing people who don't have a place to sleep is immoral.

And that's about it.

Can't be any more immoral.

Supporters of the measure say the law will protect public spaces.

I'm Eric Tegethoff reporting.

Next, new federal legislation could overturn a Massachusetts law banning the use of confinement systems deemed cruel to farm animals.

Kara Shannon with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says the bill would undo a decade of progress in animal welfare.

They serve the laboratory where we figure things out.

We have the right to pass laws to protect not just animals, but consumers.

So this is a huge federal overreach.

The Food Security and Farm Production Act would allow the use of battery cages for hens, gestation crates for mother pigs and veal crates, and prevent states from passing any new laws regulating the sale of agricultural products.

Supporters of the bill, including National Pork Producers Council, say a patchwork of state regulations have hurt family farms.

This is Public News Service.

Montana officials have denied a petition asking the state to designate the Big Hole River as impaired by pollution.

Two conservation groups collected data over five years and found levels of nutrients in the Big Hole River exceeded thresholds in some parts by two or threefold that could harm aquatic habitats, contaminate drinking water, and affect fishing and other tourism business.

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality, or DEQ, said petitioners used the wrong metrics.

Executive Director of Upper Missouri Waterkeeper Guy Alcinsur says it's an example of politics undermining good science.

At minimum, we feel that the state owes us a written explanation with some detail about exactly why it believes it can deny a petition that has clearly satisfied the scientific basis for developing a pollution cleanup plan.

The Montana DEQ argues that the petition's data doesn't abide by a state law passed in 2021.

The Federal Environmental Protection Agency, however, officially disapproved of that law.

Alcinsur says he's requested that the EPA weigh in.

I'm Kathleen Shannon.

Next to Indiana, where lawmakers continue to debate THC rules while surrounding states move forward with marijuana legislation.

Senate Bill 478 targets packaging and branding rules for legal THC products sold to people 21 and older.

Lawmakers want to prevent these products from mimicking candy or snacks that might appeal to minors.

The bill would require testing and stricter packaging for Kraft hemp flour and other THC items.

Republican State Representative Jake Teshka of North Liberty sponsored the bill.

This market right now is the wild, wild west, and so I think what this bill attempts to do is to ensure that the safety of Hoosier youth and Hoosier consumers comes first.

Delta 8, Delta 9, and Delta 10 products, chemicals with THC levels under .3 percent, remain legal in Indiana and often appear in gas stations, smoke shops, and dispensaries.

I'm Joe Ulery, Public News Service.

The House passed two amendments to the bill this session.

One limits sales near schools.

Another changes the definition of e-liquids.

Finally, supporters of the arts are gathering today in Sacramento for Arts Advocacy Day in order to lobby lawmakers on a range of issues.

Educators are drawing attention to problems with the implementation of Proposition 28, which was supposed to help schools hire more art teachers.

Abe Flores with the non-profit Create California says some districts are doing something of a bait and switch.

Some schools are using the new Prop 28 funding to replace their existing investments in arts education, and so their students are not seeing a net increase in their arts teachers or arts programming.

Los Angeles Unified is currently being sued over this issue by local parents and by the author of Prop 28.

I'm Suzanne Potter.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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