News from around the nation.

Trump threatens China with 50% additional tariffs, Flooding inundates Kentucky communities; New research exposes the devastating effects of solitary confinement; Groups archive federal science data as government websites go dark.

Transcript

The Public News Service Tuesday afternoon update, I'm Mike Clifford.

President Donald Trump threatened to add new 50 percent tariffs on China if Beijing doesn't remove its retaliatory duties by today.

That from CNN.

They report the president said he's not looking at a pause in enforcing the sweeping tariffs.

CNN also reports a federal judge in Washington, D.C. is scheduled to hold a hearing today to look at whether probable cause exists to hold the Trump administration officials in contempt for violating his orders halting the use of a sweeping wartime authority to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members.

This comes a day after the Supreme Court allowed Trump to enforce the authority for rapid deportations for now.

Next to Frankfurt, one of a number of communities across Kentucky that are grappling with a deluge of flash flooding.

Emergency officials have asked Frankfurt residents to keep conserving water while the city works to bounce back.

Frankfurt Mayor Lane Wilkerson said three shelters remain open and encouraged residents to call the city's hotline at 502-352-2252 for non-emergency help.

We have people standing by to answer any questions to make sure you get to the right area and we'll make sure that you're taken care of.

A nine-year-old child was swept away by floodwaters in Frankfurt and a Nelson County adult was found submerged in a car.

Nadia Ramligan reporting.

This story produced with original reporting from Sarah Ladd and Liam Niemeyer for Kentucky Lantern.

And imagine being locked in a cell for 23 hours a day under constant artificial light with no human contact for months or even years.

New research confirms the damage extends far beyond psychological trauma.

Neuroscientist Michaela Romero of the University of Washington is studying these effects using an unexpected subject, bumblebees.

Her work reveals how solitary confinement biologically alters the brain and body with particularly urgent implications for states such as Mississippi where extreme isolation remains standard practice.

Romero's research replicates prison-like solitary conditions with bumblebee colonies.

I had two treatments.

One set of bees were completely alone in their cells and the other ones were in groups of four under all of the same conditions.

The ones in isolated housing died twice as much as the group housing.

I'm Tramiel Gomes.

And on the heels of President Donald Trump's order to remove any reference to DEI, climate change and more, a group of nonprofits is working to preserve federal science and environmental justice data before it disappears completely from government websites.

KB Hoveling with the Open Environmental Data Project says there's widely accepted scientific evidence that can help hold polluters accountable.

So the data removals are just part of this larger effort to not just stop supporting communities that need support but to hide the impacts that we are inevitably going to feel and are already feeling.

The project is also looking at lower risk data from non-government websites to save and house on its website.

This is Public News Service.

Black residents in the state of Illinois are almost eight times more likely to be homeless than white people with the lack of livable wages and affordable housing among the primary drivers.

Scholars from the University of Illinois Chicago say homelessness is an issue of equity with blacks disproportionately represented across the state.

Rent burdens and economic hardship are both driving factors.

In 2022, about 63 percent of black renters spent more than 30 percent of their paycheck on housing.

Sharma St. Louis with the National Black Workers Center experienced homelessness in the winter of 2011.

Even though she was working full time, she says she couldn't afford to pay for housing and basic needs for her and her family.

I felt like I was doing everything right.

You can do everything right and still end up in a place where you don't have a home because the system is failing us.

One in four black residents is living in poverty in Illinois and one in seven is in deep poverty.

St. Louis says the Trump administration's dismantling of DEI efforts will only further compound matters.

I'm Judith Ruiz Branch reporting.

Next to Indiana where food banks are bracing for a major disruption, that is the U.S.

Department of Agriculture suspends $500 million in food deliveries nationwide.

The cut threatens critical resources for families facing hunger across the state.

Emily Weikert Bryant with Feeding Indiana's Hungry says one in eight Hoosiers struggles with food insecurity.

She says the Emergency Food Assistance Program, or TFAP, is helping to fill the gap in the state.

They did also recently announce the approval of $261 million of Section 32 bonus commodity purchases of fruits, vegetables and tree nuts that would be distributed through TFAP.

The USDA's action follows $1 billion in cuts to two federal food programs by the Trump administration.

Weikert Bryant says with fewer government resources, food banks must now find new ways to fill the gap.

Joe Ulari, Public News Service.

Finally April is Second Chance Month with extra focus on helping people with a criminal past keep from becoming repeat offenders.

Recent survey findings from the social issues firm Fenton Communications show a majority of Americans think violent crime rates for youth are on the rise.

But in a forum hosted by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Fenton's Jennifer Hahn said those numbers have actually been going down with the exception of isolated pockets.

There still is this very sticky belief that punishment works.

Hahn suggests those beliefs muddy the conversation about pushing ahead with effective interventions.

I'm Mike Moen.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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