News from around the nation.

At Least 11 Dead After Severe Flooding Sweeps The South; Hundreds Of Thousands Without Power; Abandoned Mine Land program frozen as Appalachia faces severe flooding; Solar power gives MN resort new blood, new life.

Transcript

The Public News Service Monday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

At least 10 people are dead after severe weather struck the South over the weekend.

Nine of those victims killed by flooding in Kentucky as heavy rains pummeled the region.

That for the Weather Channel.

They report most of the deaths occurred when cars became stuck in high water.

That for the Associated Press.

At least a thousand people in the state were rescued from the floodwaters Sunday according to Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear.

The governor said in a news conference that he believed the death toll in the state would rise.

The other death occurred in Atlanta when a large tree fell onto a home.

The system named Winter Storm Jet by the Weather Channel brought up to six inches of rain to parts Kentucky and Tennessee and the Trump administration has frozen funds used for abandoned mine land cleanup through the bipartisan infrastructure law.

Congress invested about 11 billion dollars into a trust fund to help address the backlog of sites needing reclamation.

But now the Federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement has stopped releasing the money, says Chelsea Barnes with Appalachian Voices.

She points out with ongoing flooding in eastern Kentucky, heavy rainfall can worsen problems on abandoned mine sites, triggering erosion, landslides and blowout events that lead to property damage.

There's a buildup of water and then it all of a sudden releases really fast that can go downstream down the mountainside and crash into homes, businesses, destroy roads.

In addition to tackling environmental hazards, research shows AML projects also create jobs.

One analysis by the Sierra Club found investing in reclamation will create nearly 3000 jobs and billions in economic growth and a handful of Appalachian states.

Nadia Ramlagan reporting.

The Appalachian Citizens Law Center says there are 12,000 acres of disturbed former mine land in eastern Kentucky that could be reclaimed to reduce environmental and safety hazards.

And the bright winter sun is setting on one northern Minnesota resort apart from the others.

Management with the operation says since they've taken advantage of solar power, they no longer have to hang up a "closed for the season" sign.

Strained by high heating costs, the Lodge of Whispering Pines in Ely used to sit dormant during the winter for the past decade.

New ownership took over in 2022 and recently added a 72 panel solar array that largely powers its dozen cabins.

Owner Dan Houl says they used to spend a lot of money on diesel fuel, making it hard to justify welcoming visitors during the colder months.

This way we've got clean energy.

It works, it's dependable, and really the big winner for the Lodge of Whispering Pines is I get to be open in the winter.

The project was aided by the Minnesota State Competitiveness Fund, which helps applicants pursue federal funds for these types of energy projects.

A separate federal program aimed at spurring adoption in rural areas also played a role.

I'm Mike Moen.

This story produced through original reporting from Avakion for the Minneapolis Post.

This is Public News Service.

Next to Nebraska, where the legislature is considering a bill that would provide nearly a million dollars to help survivors of domestic abuse and sex trafficking pay for emergency housing.

Recent research shows that 1.4 million Nebraskans have reported some form of domestic or sexual violence in their lifetimes.

Joe Baer, executive director of Encourage Advocacy Center, says lack of access to safe and affordable housing is a primary barrier for survivors of sex trafficking and intimate partner violence who are trying to escape abusive relationships.

These survivors are having to weigh out, do I stay in a unsafe situation or do I leave and potentially become homeless, potentially have my children become homeless?

Baer adds that people who've experienced domestic violence or sex trafficking have almost always suffered financial abuse.

I'm Mark Moran.

And a new bill before Arkansas lawmakers is designed to improve maternal care for low-income families.

If passed, the Healthy Moms Healthy Babies Act will invest more than 45 million dollars annually into programs for mothers and babies statewide.

Arkansas Surgeon General Dr. Kay Chandler says the legislation will make prenatal care available to everyone.

As soon as somebody knows they're pregnant, we want them to go to the doctor, make an appointment right away.

If they have a doctor at OBGYN, let's go to the doctor at OBGYN, family doctor, wherever you offer your prenatal care.

But if you don't, you can go to the health department, your local health unit and get free prenatal care and they can help you get established.

Arkansas has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the nation and the third highest infant mortality rate.

I'm Freda Ross reporting.

Finally, the incidence of drug overdose is decreasing in Indiana.

One reason could be the efforts of an organization offering free training to anyone willing to help someone struggling with addiction.

Indianapolis-based Overdose Lifeline works to address the basic needs of families, individuals and communities showing them how to administer the overdose reversal drug naloxone or Narcan.

CEO Justin Phillips explains naloxone can reverse the effects of fentanyl, currently the most prevalent synthetic opioid in the drug supply.

We want to make people understand opioids in the class and family of opioids.

Then we talk about stigma and harm reduction and we give people the signs and symptoms of an overdose and then we provide them with free overdose reversal kit.

She says with proper training, someone can be better suited to reverse an overdose than administer CPR.

The training lasts about an hour.

In the second quarter of last year, the Marion County Public Health Department reported 124 overdose deaths.

I'm Terry Dee reporting.

This is Mike Clifford.

Thank you for starting your week with Public News Service.

Member and listener support. Hear us on interesting radio stations, your favorite podcast platform, find our content and our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.