News from around the nation.

Trump says a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could come any day now; Abdul El-Sayed wins the Senate race in Michigan; Latino voters in Florida see outreach push as early voting begins; ACLU of Wyoming: Counties deputized local ICE agents illegally; Experts suggest ways to speed up ballot counting in California.

Transcript

The Public News Service Wednesday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Responding to reporters traveling with him in California about a report on Axios that an announcement on the Strait of Hormuz could be made on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump said it could happen tomorrow or the next day.

He said a lot of progress has been made.

The AP notes that the draft agreement between Iran and Oman calls for ships to enter the Persian Gulf through an Iranian-controlled route and exit through route control by Oman.

Service fees would be charged for providing security and preserving the maritime environment. and Abdul El-Sayed has been declared the winner of the Democratic Senate race in Michigan.

The New York Times notes Dr. El-Sayed, a progressive former public health official, narrowly defeated Representative Haley Stevens, a moderate, in a bitter campaign dominated by the politics of Israel.

Meantime, early voting in Florida's primary election has started in at least 10 counties, with more rolling out later this week.

The primary is August 18th, and local races for school board, county commissioner, and circuit judge will be decided.

Lottie Campo is state director for Hispanic Federation.

She says her organization is meeting voters where they are, including a recent phone bank that made over 2,000 calls to Latino voters in Hillsborough County.

We want to empower, and we also have to say not only Latinos, everyone that has the opportunity to vote, they should do that.

It's a privilege, it's a right, and we should take advantage of it.

Florida is home to more than 3 million eligible Latino voters, the third largest in the nation.

I'm Tramiel Gomes.

And Wyoming counties that allowed their law enforcement officers to be deputized as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents did so illegally.

That's according to information obtained through a public records request by the American Civil Liberties Union of Wyoming.

Critics of the federal 287G program say it's diverting law enforcement resources away from public safety priorities.

Jana Farley with the ACLU of Wyoming says it also keeps people from calling for help when crimes are committed. they see something going on in the community, they're going to be less likely to call law enforcement because they don't want to have a magnifying glass on their community.

They could get caught up into ICE and perhaps someone they know or love could be deported.

All Wyoming counties failed to hold a notice or comment period before entering into agreements with ICE.

Defenders of the 287G program say it's necessary to fulfill President Donald Trump's campaign promises of mass deportations.

I'm Eric Galatas.

And as you may have heard, sometimes it takes days and even weeks to call an election in the Golden State, mostly because it takes time to count tens of millions of mail-in ballots.

The California Voter Foundation just published a list of ways to speed up the process.

CVF President Kim Alexander says voters can really help out by turning in their ballots earlier.

We suggest the Saturday before the election, and if they can turn that ballot in in person, that's even better.

Mail-in ballots that arrive on or after the election day tend to slow down the count considerably, according to the foundation.

This is Public News Service.

More than two million acres have burned in Oregon so far this year, and with the increased risk of wildfire damage to homes and businesses, experts say now is the time to make people have their wildfire insurance set up to work for them.

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek has issued an emergency order stopping insurers from canceling policies in the next 30 days and giving anyone in wildfire evacuation zones more time to file claims.

Michelle Lutke with Oregon Consumer Justice says while insurance can feel overwhelming, the first step is to take a detailed inventory of your home and belongings.

They can start today, they can do one room at a time.

There's apps and templates you can use because just use your phone camera feature and save that inventory up to a digital drive so you have access to it in the instances that you need it.

Ludke says Oregon Consumer Justice has released Insurance Coverage in Wildfires, a pocket-sized guide for consumers with clear steps and resources to safeguard their coverage before disasters occur.

People can download the free guide at ocj.org.

I'm Isobel Charle.

Next, a new initiative hopes to shed light on locations of poultry-based factory farms across the Tar Heel State.

Those leading the effort say it will help provide accountability and protect communities.

Unlike cattle or pork factory farms, there is little information in North Carolina about the locations and waste records of concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, related to chickens.

Using satellite imagery from all of North Carolina's counties, the EIEIO NoEffer aims to search and locate poultry CAFOs across the state.

Chris Lamont Brown with the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network says transparency is essential, especially to the marginalized communities that often neighbor such facilities.

It is our right for the public to know what hazards are entering our environment and how we can have a say in accountability to reduce the public health hazards of them.

And certainly for largely communities of color who are neighbors of these facilities.

I'm Zamone Perez.

Finally, a Washington coalition of environmental and climate groups are calling on the state's largest utility to reduce proposed rate hikes and do more to meet the state's clean energy goals.

Puget Sound Energy, which powers 10 counties in western and central Washington, is seeking to raise its electricity rates by nearly 30% and its gas rates by nearly 20% over the next three years.

Victor Zertucci is an attorney at Earth Justice, the firm representing the coalition joint environmental advocates.

He says while PSE deserves kudos for their financial support of clean energy, they should not be investing in outdated fossil fuel infrastructure.

For example, a big investment costing at least $600 million in Centralia to convert a coal-fired plant to a gas plant that would, over 17 years, cost ratepayers an extreme amount of money.

I'm Isobel Charle.

This is by Clifford for Public News Service.

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