News from around the nation.

US soldier involved with operation to capture Maduro is charged with using classified intel to win $400K on Polymarket; Tornado injures 10 in northern OK; Rural OR hospitals take new food requirements ‘in stride’; NM wildfire predictions ramp up well ahead of summer; Citizen scientists in MN shine brightly during Earth Month.

Transcript

The Public News Service Friday Afternoon Update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

A U.S. Special Forces soldier involved in the planning and execution of the operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been charged with using classified information about the mission to win more than $400,000 on the prediction site Polymarket.

The AP identified the soldier as Gannon Ken Van Dyke.

The Justice Department charged him with unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain and about a half dozen other charges, and 10 people injured when a massive tornado ripped apart homes in Enid, Oklahoma.

The Garfield County Sheriff's Office says at this time there are no reports of fatalities, only minor injuries being reported.

Meantime, new requirements laid out by the Department of Health and Human Services to limit processed foods in hospitals are getting mixed responses from hospitals in rural Oregon.

The stated goal of the new guidelines is to fight long-term illness by treating healthy food as part of medical care.

That includes eliminating sugary drinks, replacing refined grains with whole grains, and emphasizing higher vegetable intake.

Virginia Williams with Curry Health Network in Gold Beach says being a small hospital is to their advantage when it comes to serving healthy food.

Most of our food is home-cooked in our kitchen.

We really use very little processed foods.

I would say we meet a lot of what their requirements are.

Some hospitals have expressed concerns that the requirements could further stretch their already tight budgets.

I'm Isobel Charle.

And it has been unseasonably warm across much of the southwest this spring.

Weather experts say that means wildfire threats will likely start earlier.

Ross Brown reports AccuWeather predicts fires in 2026 will burn between 5.5 and 8 million acres across the country.

Drought, above average temperatures and below average snowpack will set the stage for a growing fire danger as the summer progresses.

Research scientist Virginia Iglesias at the University of Colorado says the effects already are obvious.

For us living in the western U.S., we look out of the window.

In previous years we would probably have snow right now.

Now we have flowers.

So all plants are starting early this year and the soil is pretty dry.

Climate change disproportionately affects vulnerable groups, including Black and Indigenous communities and women.

I'm Roz Brown.

And over the final week of Earth Month, citizen scientists are getting some love for their role in monitoring environmental threats.

Minnesota leaders in space say residents shouldn't feel like outsiders.

Margaret Levin with Sierra Club's North Star chapter acknowledges people banding together has led to high-profile instances of accountability.

We can see some examples of regular people and families raising concerns about pollution and unaccountable corporations.

A recent study finds an increasing number of federal environmental impact statements are receiving significant contributions from citizen science data.

Apps people use to log their observations can help confirm findings.

This is Public News Service.

A coal plant in West Michigan was set to shut down last May, but nearly a year later, it is still running.

Critics say residents are paying the price.

Just a week before the J.H. Campbell plant in Ottawa County was scheduled to close, federal officials issued what was supposed to be a short-term 90-day order to keep it online.

That order has now been extended three times, and environmental groups contend it's harming nearby communities through toxic air emissions and high utility bills.

Gray Wainier, an attorney with the Sierra Club, says the issue raises questions about how the Department of Energy's power is being used.

The DOE is abusing authority, what's really supposed to be an emergency authority, to try to achieve a long-term political, like a policy objective.

So it's a misuse of emergency authority.

According to the Clean Air Task Force, the plant's emissions are tied to dozens of deaths along with heart attacks and asthma cases each year.

However, supporters of the extension's counter the plan is needed to help ensure a strong and reliable power grid.

This story was produced with original reporting from Alyssa Burr for the Michigan Independent.

Crystal Blair reporting.

Next, some child safety advocates say that App Store age checks are not a solution to protect kids from online harms.

Introduced federal legislation like the App Store Accountability Act and similar measures would require operators like Google Play and Apple to verify a user's age and get parental consent before a minor can make a purchase.

Terrence Samuel with the nonprofit Connect and Protect says kids can find a way around mobile app restrictions by simply using a gaming console or their laptop's browser.

Kids need to be safe online as they need to be safe offline, and we don't want to screw that up by bad legislation that doesn't make any sense.

The bills would require everyone, no matter their age, to upload a passport or driver's license to prove their identity.

I'm Katherine Carley.

Finally, a Georgia program that guides high school seniors to college is getting funding to further its work.

A grant initiative from Lumina Foundation is providing over $3.5 million to help states and institutions simplify the journey from high school to college.

Scott Lingrell, project lead for Georgia's Career Navigator Project, says the Georgia Match program has already changed the game for high school seniors.

There's a group of students that didn't ever go to college.

And now we expect, because they're going to be admitted so directly, that more students will go to college because now they know very quickly and they know the institutions for which they're eligible.

Lingrell says over the last three years, enrollment in the program has grown dramatically, well ahead of the national average.

Support for this reporting is provided by Lumina Foundation.

I'm Tramiel Gomes.

This is by Clifford for Public News Service.

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