News from around the nation.

In a new video, Savannah Guthrie calls on abductor to 'do the right thing'; AZ transgender community pushes back on immigration enforcement; New tech helps power grids by shifting EV charging to off-peak hours; NV leader joins fight to better fund electric transportation.

Transcript

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

In a new video posted online Sunday, Savannah Guthrie told whoever had abducted her mother, Nancy Guthrie, that it is never too late to do the right thing, make an emotional direct appeal at the two week mark of her mother's disappearance.

Gloves found about two miles from Nancy Guthrie's home were sent to a lab for DNA analysis in an attempt to track down who may have owned them.

The FBI said Sunday that the pair of gloves resembled those worn by a man seen on video recorded by the doorbell camera at Guthrie's home on the night of her disappearance.

That from the New York Times.

Meantime, Arizona transgender rights advocates are pushing back on immigration enforcement tactics being employed in the state and across the country.

Our Mark Moran lets us know, they say trans people face many of the same discriminatory practices that immigrants face and have for decades.

Isa Noyola, director of the Border Butterflies Project for the Transgender Law Center, says trans immigrants seeking asylum face an especially difficult challenge in the current political climate and that immigrant and transgender rights abuses intersect.

Our work is in supporting folks to find safety in the system and safety during the process and getting folks stabilized with housing, getting folks stabilized in getting support services on the ground with other organizations, helping them with other services that exist.

Noyola says the Trump administration has adopted a whole of government approach that has restricted the rights of transgender and other marginalized people, calling it a common sense agenda.

I'm Mark Moran.

And a new technology could help keep electric vehicles, which can tap twice as much energy as an entire household, from stressing already challenged power grids.

Instead of charging the EV at times of peak demand, when people get home from work, an algorithm waits until later in the night when rates drop.

Active managed charging programs also make sure that batteries are fully charged before drivers leave for work in the morning.

Data scientist, Frederick Hall with Energy Hub says it allows participating drivers to lower their energy bills without managing charging times on their own.

By shifting energy into the off-peak period, the cost of charging reduced by 50 percent.

And so that's a significant savings for folks to basically cut their charging costs in half.

I'm Eric Galatas.

This story with addition reporting by Matt Simon with Grist.

And Congress will soon take up a big surface transportation bill.

A leading Democrat from Nevada's congressional delegation is speaking out in favor of electrifying the transportation sector.

Nevada Congresswoman Dina Titus says Democrats will push to prioritize clean transportation.

It's critical that we fight for these issues.

Our transportation system accounts for 29 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions.

It's not a small problem, it's a major problem.

The Biden-era bipartisan infrastructure bill final billions to programs to support charging stations and electric vehicles and buses but many of those programs have suffered since President Trump took office.

This is public news service.

Folks in Missouri could be impacted by an anti-transgender bill in Kansas.

Senate Bill 244 requires people to use bathrooms in public buildings corresponding with the gender they were assigned at birth, building on a 2023 law creating a state definition of of biological sex.

The new bill allows people to sue anyone found violating the law as an enforcement mechanism.

Transgender advocate Hazel Krebs says this bill makes life more challenging for people like her in Kansas.

The reality of being trans in Kansas is I don't know where I can go safely.

I don't know if I can get healthcare.

There's so many important parts of life in question that we can maybe not access because of these laws.

Though state Democratic lawmakers opposed the bill during debate, Krebs notes the bill never received a public comment since it was subject to a process called "gut and go."

This means the bill's contents are shifted to another bill, fast-tracking it and skipping public comment.

Governor Laura Kelly vetoed the bill, but now it goes back to the Kansas State Legislature for a possible override vote.

I'm Edwin J. Viera.

And Shell is reportedly struggling to recoup its massive investment in Pennsylvania's petrochemical sector with weak fourth quarter returns, renewing concerns that the project has under delivered on jobs growth and profits.

Kathy Hipple with the Ohio River Valley Institute says data show Shell received the major state tax subsidy intended to build a regional petrochemical hub.

The company has already collected about 90 million dollars and could keep receiving roughly 60 to 65 million dollars a year if the company continues to purchase and process more than a billion gallons of ethane annually.

She adds Shell has begun to sell off tax credits intended to support the local petrochemical industry.

By law, they are able to sell these tax credits.

And so far, they seem to have sold 100 percent of the tax credits that they have received to other companies that are not in manufacturing industry.

They're usually in the insurance industry.

Sometimes they're not even in the region.

Danielle Smith reporting.

And finally, February is Library Lovers Month.

Support for libraries has been threatened in recent years.

An executive order by President Donald Trump last year attempted to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a government agency responsible for grants to local libraries.

But the new budget passed by Congress and signed by Trump earlier this month provides a small increase for the agency's budget.

David Dahl with the Maryland Library Association believes libraries are a cornerstone of society.

If you think about it, it's one of the few remaining places where you can go be who you are and make use of without making a purchase.

I'm Zamone Perez.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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