News from around the nation.

Schumer requests "special drone-detection tech" for N.Y. and N.J; MA worker co-op movement backs REI union contract efforts; Georgia's clean energy boom sparks workforce growth, housing challenges; Join the flock: Mississippi's Christmas Bird Count takes flight. 

Transcript

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

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday he's working to pass a bill to give local law enforcement more tools for drone detection, following a spate of mysterious sightings in the Northeast.

That from Axios.

They report Schumer urged Homeland Security Secretary Alexandru Mayorkas to send special drone detection tech to New York and New Jersey to tackle the unidentified flying objects problem that saw New York's Stewart International Airport shut down on Friday.

Axios adds Schumer said, "If the technology exists for a drone to make it up into the sky, there's certainly technology that can track the craft with precision and determine what the heck is going on."

Union workers fighting for a fair contract at REI Boston are drawing support from the state's growing worker co-op community.

REI is the largest customer co-op brand, but many worker-owned co-ops say it has failed to live up to its stated values or bargain in good faith.

Union member Sam Gilbert says workers need a greater say in scheduling, training and a living wage.

"I see all of those as being progressive changes that we can do within the union and in doing so we can really help REI out too."

Gilbert says he's grateful for the backing of fellow unions and worker co-ops, especially following the loss of five senior co-workers.

REI maintains their dismissals were not related to union activities and that it's committed to the contract negotiation process.

I'm Catherine Carley.

Lawmakers have allocated nearly $700 million to help build a network of worker-owned co-ops around the Commonwealth.

And Georgia's clean energy sector is thriving, ranking among the top five states for investments 2023 to 2024.

We get the details in this Daily Yonder Georgia News Connection collaboration.

Olivia Amiette owns Infinite Energy Advisors in Cleveland, Georgia and founded the Solar Knowledge Institute.

She has seen firsthand how these investments are transforming the clean energy landscape.

"If it wasn't for that, I would probably say 90 percent of our clients wouldn't make that move to get solar."

Since the IRA was enacted two years ago, Georgia has created more than 32,000 clean energy jobs and attracted $23 billion in projects including EV manufacturing, battery recycling and solar energy expansion.

Shantia Hudson reporting.

Bird enthusiasts across Mississippi are actively participating in the longest-standing science project the Ottoman Society conducting its 125th annual Christmas Bird Count.

Eric Johnson with Ottoman Delta says Mississippi will go through a circle area with a 15-mile radius counting the number of birds they see or hear.

"Many species of birds that winter in the United States and Canada have been shifting north for decades.

And this is very likely in response to a warming climate, a warming winter.

You know, the center of their range has shifted several hundred miles."

He notes the data will help track trends and movements in the birds.

This is public news service.

It is no secret the holiday season is a difficult time of the year for families with kids in youth detention centers.

Our Eric Tegethoff reports families have limited access to children in prisons.

Rashida Robbins has a kid in Green Hill School, a 180-bed facility in Chehalis, Washington.

She says families were invited to holiday dinners in early December, but Robbins notes this was long before Christmas and on that day, she says, there will be a hole in her home that can't be filled.

"It's pretty tough.

And the lack of access to him during these times makes it even tougher.

The thought of him just sitting in a locked room makes it unbearable as a parent.

It's really rough."

Governor Jay Inslee has announced a proposal for a new youth facility to address overcrowding, specifically at Green Hill.

Organizations including Kids Are Kids and Team Child have criticized the plan, saying it doesn't address the current concerns at Green Hill.

And Goodwill of Southern Nevada is most known for its thrift stores and donation centers, but it's also instrumental in getting Nevadans trained and hired by local employers.

Goodwill of Southern Nevada's Brian Fukuzawa says the train-to-hire programs are good at getting Nevadans into in-demand fields like health care and entertainment.

He adds their medical assistant, certified nursing assistant, phlebotomy and stagehand training programs prepare folks for employment in local industries within about three months.

"Of course we want people to come in with as many qualifications as they can.

It makes it easy for us.

But it doesn't really matter where somebody comes from.

We will help them find employment no matter what that looks like.

A big part of our mission and our vision is to help people with upward mobility as well."

Fukuzawa says to qualify for the free training programs, Nevadans must have proper legal documentation to work in the U.S. and meet certain income requirements.

I'm Alex Gonzalez reporting.

Finally, as President-elect Donald Trump doubles down on promises to round up and deport the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants, the city of Castle Rock has pledged to make its law enforcement personnel available to assist federal agencies.

But that support could come with significant costs.

Jeremy Robbins with the American Immigration Council points to new data showing that deporting people who work in critical industries such as construction, education, food production and health care would reduce the nation's GDP by nearly 7 percent, which is on par with losses during the Great Recession.

The cost of mass deportation would be tremendous, not just because it's so expensive to deport people but because it would wreak havoc on the economy.

The cost of deportation is expected to be well over $100 billion, and Trump's transition team has vowed to slash federal funding for local governments that refuse to cooperate.

I'm Eric Galatas.

This is Mike Clifford.

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