News from around the nation.

Kindergartners 'critical but stable' after CA school shooting; U.S. hits quarter-century mark focusing on kids 'aging out' of foster care; Record number of women to serve in state legislatures nationwide; Tempe mayor's holiday wish: more AZ clean energy investment.

Transcript

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

A gunman in California who shot and injured two children, age six and five, at a school before fatally shooting himself used a guise to gain access to the school.

That from the BBC.

They report the children are in critical but stable condition and were being treated in a trauma center.

The attack happened on Wednesday at a school affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist church near Oroville, California.

The BBC Notes investigator said they believe the gunman targeted the school because of its affiliation with the church and was motivated as a response to the war in Gaza.

Meantime this month marks the 25th anniversary of a federal law designed to give states flexibility in helping older kids transition out of foster care.

States like Nebraska have updated their programs, but advocates say services are still underutilized.

In 1999, the U.S. government enacted a law that gives states money to carry out independent living programs for kids in foster care soon-to-be adults.

But the Annie E. Casey Foundation says fewer than half of those eligible receive services.

Hope Cooper leads the Journey to Success campaign to raise awareness of this issue.

She says these kids often face a steep climb at a key stage in life.

They faced a lot of adversity in their early years and we really have to meet that opportunity to provide some really targeted additional supports to smooth that climb.

Federal advocates urge state and federal lawmakers to do all they can to close gaps.

This past year, Nebraska opted to include youth aging out of the juvenile justice system who lack any family support.

I'm Mike Moen.

And 2025 will bring a new record number of women serving in state legislatures nationwide.

More than 2,400 women will hold state legislative offices, representing more than 33 percent.

Maine ranks ninth in the nation for statehouse gender parity, with women holding 43 percent of seats.

Senator Susan Sinsdack, with the Center for American Women in Politics, says she's pleased the trend is moving in the right direction.

We need to see bigger jumps in terms of the numbers of women running and getting elected in order to get closer to parity.

We're certainly making progress, but there's a ways to go.

Sinsdack says when women run for office, they win, and that's good for democracy.

She says research shows women are more likely to build consensus among lawmakers and work across the aisle.

I'm Catherine Carley.

And a new Environment America report shows wind and solar geothermal energy production has tripled nationwide since 2014.

Arizona is getting its share.

They rank fifth in the nation for solar energy production and third for battery storage capacity.

Tempe Mayor Cory Woods says the improvements not only help with the environment, but also affect everyday Arizonans.

They can save residents money in the short and the long term, and they can generally make your life more comfortable and frankly save lives in these very hot Arizona summers.

Woods says over the last four years under the Biden administration, he's seen tremendous progress in the city and statewide to address climate change.

This is Public News Service.

With manatee season in full swing now, Florida's gentle marine mammals gather in warm waters to escape the winter's chill.

But these iconic creatures face growing challenges from habitat loss.

A new proposal from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service aims to address these threats by revising critical habitat protections for the first time in nearly 50 years.

The agency proposes protecting more than 1.9 million acres of critical habitat for Florida manatees and over 78,000 acres for Antilin manatees in Puerto Rico, marking the first update since 1976.

Elizabeth Fleming is a senior Florida representative with Defenders of Wildlife.

It's a long overdue revision of looking at what is vital habitat for manatees to find warm water, to be able to feed, to travel, to give birth and safely raise their young.

I'm Tramell Gomes.

Meantime, Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow has introduced a new farm bill, legislation renewed every five years to govern much of U.S. agriculture.

Rita Garza, who originally reported this story for Grist, says the bill follows months of disagreement between Democratic and Republican lawmakers over its priorities.

Senator Stabenow, a longtime advocate of programs that support farmers and more access to nutritious foods, has created a farm bill she believes will help farmers cope with the climate crisis.

Earlier this week, she presented the details of her bill, the Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act, to the Senate.

It includes $39 billion more in funding above the normal farm bill baseline.

It puts more farm in the farm bill for all of our commodities, not at the expense, though, of rural communities or American families.

Stabenow needs Republican support in the Senate Agriculture Committee and the House, where Democrats lack votes.

It's unlikely Stabenow's bill will pass.

Crystal Blair reporting.

This story was first reported by the Rural News Network.

But after a modest decline starting in 2018, sales of antibiotics used to raise U.S. livestock increased more than 4 percent in 2022, which experts say risks more deaths in people from antibiotic-resistant infections.

The details in this sentiment, New Mexico News Service collaboration.

Steven Roach with the group Food Animal Concerns Trust says by species, the latest federal data show 2022 sales of medically important antibiotics for cattle are now higher than any year since 2016.

In pigs in the U.S. it's up by 24 percent, and in cattle it's up by 10 percent.

I'm Roz Brown.

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

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