News from around the nation.

Brothers of Renee Good call for action in Congress; Analysis: Proposed power plant raises pollution risks for WV residents; Transit Equity Day highlights connecting people to opportunity; New bill would allow VA public workers to unionize.

Transcript

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

The brothers of Renee Good, one of two US citizens killed by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, called on Congress to do something about the violence on American streets as a result of immigration operations.

Warning Tuesday that the scenes playing out are changing many lives, including ours, forever.

That from National Public Radio.

CNN notes the brothers and attorney representing the family of Renee Good also spoke at the event organized by Democratic lawmakers.

No DHS officials appeared at Tuesday's forum.

Meantime, the proposed Ridgeline Power Plant and Data Center in West Virginia will likely put residents of Tucker, Grant, and Hardy counties at risk of exposure to dangerous levels of air pollutants and cost tens of millions in health-related damages.

That's according to a new study from scientists at Harvard and MIT.

Beth Bamey is with Tucker United, the advocacy group that commissioned the independent analysis.

She says the facilities would generate a steady plume of fine particulate matter into the air that penetrates the bloodstream.

The pollution has been linked to lung cancer, heart disease, and other health harms.

The first thing that I thought about when I heard about this potential plant and saw where it would be put, it was absolutely harrowing to think about the kids that are growing up in Davis and Thomas, as well as the kids that are going to school at Davis Thomas Elementary.

Tucker United began pursuing the study after the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection declined conduct air dispersion modeling and greenlighted an air permit for the facility last summer.

This is Nadia Romligon for West Virginia News Service.

And today is Transit Equity Day, spotlighting the need for accessible and affordable public transportation and also recognizing transit as a civil right tied to social and economic justice.

In Nashville, WeGo public transit is marking the day with special bus rods.

Zeta Riggs with WeGo says Jefferson Street was chosen intentionally for its central role in in the city's civil rights history and cultural legacy highlighting how transit has long connected people to opportunity.

Connects people to jobs, medical care, school, various programs, and then it expands their housing options.

So in linking neighborhoods to essential services.

So of course when transit works well, it supports economic mobility and healthier communities.

Danielle Smith reporting.

And a new bill in the Virginia General Assembly would give public sector employees the right to form unions and collectively bargain without government approval.

Lenorel Thomas, president of the Service Employees International Union Local 512, says individually home health care providers in the Commonwealth would be included in the bill.

These workers would finally have a seat at a bargaining table and right now they do not have that.

For home care providers, this is a workforce that is overwhelmingly women, overwhelmingly women of color.

House Bill 1263 would automatically grant more than a half million state and local employees across the Commonwealth the freedom to organize.

This is public news service.

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration's attempt to end temporary protected status for Haitians, a decision that immediately affects hundreds of thousands of people nationwide.

The decision came after weeks of anxiety in Springfield, where faith leaders and community groups had been preparing for the possibility of mass deportations.

Carl Ruby, Sr. pastor of Central Christian Church says he learned of the ruling while driving.

I pulled off the road and wept.

It was such a huge relief.

And then I started calling Haitian members of my congregation and letting them know, and many of them wept.

There's no way to comprehend the sense of relief that that decision brought.

The ruling keeps TPS in place for Haitians who have lived and worked legally in the U.S. 

For years, many of whom came after the 2010 earthquake and later political violence.

The decision is expected to be appealed.

Farah Siddiqui reporting, this story is produced with original reporting by Daphne Duret for the Marshall Project in association with media in the public interest and funded in part by the George Gunn Foundation.

And on the campaign trail, President Trump completely disavowed Project 2025, a sweeping plan to reshape the federal government.

And yet a new report finds his administration already pushed through 80 percent of the plan's recommendations on public lands in Nevada and across the U.S.

Researchers from the Center for Western Priorities found multiple efforts to undermine the environmental review and public comment processes under the National Environmental Policy Act.

Kate Gortzinger with the Center says this is highly relevant in Nevada where just over 80 percent of the land belongs to the federal government.

The Trump administration has really really cut the public out of public land by limiting the amount of work that companies need to do to get a permit and limiting the opportunities for public participation in permitting.

The Trump administration maintains that environmental reviews often take years, slowing down projects that could support jobs and tax revenue.

I'm Suzanne Potter.

Finally, as Michigan lawmakers begin the 2026 legislative session, cancer prevention advocates are urging the state to take stronger action against tobacco use, noting that nearly a third of cancer deaths in Michigan are caused by smoking.

Molly Medinblick with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network says while lawmakers recently increased funding for tobacco prevention programs, Michigan still lags far behind most states.

We spent about 1.8 million dollars.

Legislators increased that to 4.6 million is how much we spend on these prevention cessation programs in the state but we still rank 44th in the country for how much we spend.

She adds the stakes are high with more than 68,000 Michiganders expected to be diagnosed with cancer this year.

Crystal Blair reporting.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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