News from around the nation.

Trump acts on “Stone Age” threat by bombing bridge in Iran; NM lawmakers throw a needed lifeline to local journalism; NYC students help protect Coney Island from climate impacts; VA prison education advocates call for greater digital access.

Transcript

The Public News Service Friday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

The U.S. military Thursday attacked major civilian infrastructure in Iran for the first time, hours after President Trump threatened in that primetime address to bomb the country back to the Stone Ages.

Trump warned the U.S. hasn't even started destroying what's left in Iran if there's no deal to end the war.

Iranian media said eight people were killed in the strike on the B-1 bridge, which officials said was still under construction.

NBC notes the United Nations Security Council expected to vote tomorrow on a proposal that would authorize defensive action to allow vessels to safely transit the vital Strait of Hormuz trade route.

Next, a former journalist who's now a New Mexico state senator believes democracy depends on an informed public and local news providers are set to benefit.

The story from our Ross Brown.

In the recent legislative session, Senator Carrie Hamblin got a bill passed that offers tax credits worth up to $15,000 per journalist to local newspapers, broadcasters, and online outlets.

Across the state, the legislation is worth up to $4 million a year, which Hamblin says is designed to help save newsroom jobs and support new hiring.

As newspapers close and newsrooms shrink, she says New Mexicans have fewer options for staying informed.

Especially in rural communities where they're either looking at their social media or media from parts of the state that don't impact them.

Local news coverage is incredibly important for an informed democracy.

And New York City middle and high school students are helping protect the city from climate impacts.

Since 2022, they've been planting thousands of American beechgrass plants in Coney Island Creek Park to strengthen the area's climate resilience as part of the National Wildlife Federation's Resilient Schools and Communities Program.

City data show the area is vulnerable to flooding and coastal erosion from intensifying storms.

Emily Fano with the National Wildlife Federation says beachgrass plants can address some of these ongoing problems.

This is a wonderful grass that creates a network, kind of like a spider web, under the sand.

That really helps to stabilize the sand, not only to prevent it from washing into the water, but also to prevent it from blowing into the street.

Students have overwhelmingly positive feedback about the program, but she says one big challenge is securing funding for additional plantings.

I'm Edwin J. Viera.

And as the world becomes more digitized, prison education advocates are calling for that technology to come to prison education programs.

Terry Irwin is with the Virginia Consensus for Higher Education in Prison.

People who get education while they're incarcerated, of whatever level, helps them once they get on the outside to find their way in a more constructive way.

They don't come back to prison if they have more tools to make their way in the outside world.

In 2024, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee found that 40 percent of incarcerated people in Virginia have an assessed need for education to reduce their likelihood of reoffending.

This is Public News Service.

As we head into Easter weekend, pastors in Wisconsin are criticizing white Christian nationalism.

They say the ideology is contrary to the major tenets of the Christian faith, and they're calling on others to join their protests.

Senior pastor of Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ in Madison, Rev.

Julia Berkey, is one of many who believe the country's leaders continue to incite extremist values.

She says it's important to recognize that Christian nationalists are invoking a version of God that is unrecognizable to mainstream Christianity.

Berkey describes using God's name to wage violence or strip people's rights as blasphemy and calls it a violation of the teachings of Jesus.

She says he taught his believers to love and be in solidarity with the most vulnerable and marginalized in society.

But that means that the least of these are protected and empowered and that every person is created in the image of God, not just the powerful, not just those who are white or straight or cisgender or citizens.

She draws parallels between the execution of Jesus by the Roman Empire to what she calls the American Empire today.

I'm Judith Ruiz Branch reporting.

And a new Ohio State University hospital in Columbus is expected to help fill rural health care gaps in the region.

The new hospital's executive director, Dennis Delisle, says many local hospitals are limited in technologies and capabilities, noting the new OSU hospital specialists can step in when illness has progressed or surgical needs are more advanced.

It's an 820-bed facility.

We have about 230 ICUs within that bed complement.

We have 24 operating rooms.

We have an expansion of our neonatal ICU and our women and infant services as well.

With a population expected to exceed 3 million by 2050, an increase of more than 700,000 people, the facility is expected to meet growing health care needs.

This is Nadia Romlagan for Ohio News Connection.

Finally, safeguards protecting kids on social media are a top priority for parents.

There's a new push after the landmark verdict found Meta and Google liable for being addictive to minors.

At a news conference, bereaved parent Juliana Arnold says big tech companies knew their platforms were hurting kids but chose profit anyway.

She says her message to them is simple.

There's a right thing to do and a wrong thing to do, and they're on the wrong side.

Stop blaming the parents.

It's on you.

And this is what this is showing today.

And for parents, we now know that they were manipulating our children for profits while we were watching and trying to keep our families safe.

They are the predators.

Danielle Smith reporting.

Both companies plan to appeal, and they deny social media alone causes severe mental health issues.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service, member and listener supported.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.