News from around the nation.

Protests in Ukraine sparked by President Zelensky’s firing of a popular Defense Minister; Trump to adresss the nation tonight on election security; Wildfire smoke puts Colorado's unhoused population at increased risk; South Texas residents advised to stock up for severe storms; Montana ACA enrollees could face another steep rate hike.

Transcript

The Public News Service Thursday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Large protests appear to be the order of the day in Ukraine, sparked by President Zelensky's firing of Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov.

The BBC notes a crowd of people, mostly young, gathered in Kiev on Thursday morning holding up signs reading hands-off Fedorov and stop sabotaging victory and chanting shame.

And President Trump addresses the nation tonight with a promise that he will make a major announcement related to election security.

Election experts are concerned the speech will contain falsehoods.

Some in Trump's own party say he should instead be touting recent positive signs in the economy.

Meantime, the air quality in Denver has ranked among the worst in the world, since wildfires erupted near Pueblo Array, Dolores, and Montezuma counties, and along the Colorado-Utah border.

The vast majority of Coloradans experiencing homelessness are in the Denver metro area, and health experts are sounding the alarm.

James Crooks with National Jewish Health studies the impacts of climate change, including air pollution.

He says exposure to wildfire smoke can be very damaging for workers and others who have no choice but to spend long periods of time outside.

Hopefully they can find a shelter to spend at least part of the day in, especially the sort of hottest part of the day in the afternoon when pollution tends to be the highest from ozone.

I'm Eric Galatas.

Crook says there are respirators that people can use to reduce their exposure, but those masks we got used to using during the pandemic don't capture smoke particles.

And severe storms and life-threatening flash floods are hitting areas in southwest, central, and southeast Texas.

The National Weather Service forecasts the storm system will be in those regions for the remainder of the week.

Jarvis Bartholomew is a plumbing apprentice in the Houston area.

He says people in the path of the storms should make sure they have water in their emergency kits.

They think that that water is always going to be there, and sometimes it's not.

A lot of times if the power goes out, there may be a pump station near you that the job of that pump station is to clean the water.

That power may go out too.

He suggests filling your sink and bathtub with water and having at least two cases of bottled water.

A disaster declaration has been issued for 59 Texas counties.

More counties could be added once the system leaves the area and the damage is assessed.

I'm Freda Ross reporting.

Next, folks in Montana who get their health insurance through the state's health insurance marketplace may see another significant premium spike in 2027.

Louise Norris with HealthInsurance.org says the spike is due to higher health care and drug costs along with continued enrollment drops after federal subsidies for the Affordable Care Act expired at the end of 2025.

That is continuing to suppress enrollment, basically.

The healthiest people have been dropping their coverage, leaving a thicker risk pool.

Montana hasn't released its rates yet, but analysts say the 16 states that have are showing 10 to 20 percent premium increases on average for next year.

This is Public News Service.

Farmers in Oregon are criticizing the Trump administration's repeal of three Biden-era rules aimed at boosting competition and fairness in the meat industry.

One 2024 rule barred meat processing facilities from discriminating or retaliating against producers based on race, gender or co-op membership.

Alice Morrison, a Friends of Family Farmers, warns that limited access to USDA inspected facilities already stifles independent meat producers, and the rollback will only worsen the bottleneck.

Our farmers are getting 12 to 18 month wait times quoted to them for processing slots.

Before you even start the farm, you need to figure out your processing, because if there's no way to bring your product to market, you shouldn't dig yourself into that financial hole of raising those animals.

Morrison explains rescinding the rules will allow processing facilities to favor farmers with corporate contracts over smaller operations.

National Chicken Council President Mike Brown called the rules anti-business and said they would lead to higher prices for consumers.

I'm Isobel Charle.

And small farm supporters in Iowa call a recent settlement between the U.S. Justice Department and three egg companies inadequate.

The three egg producers were ordered to pay $1.8 million and donate 53 million eggs.

Sioux Center-based Versova will be responsible for 23 million of those eggs.

Farm Action President Angela Huffman says the fine and donation are poultry compared to what the inflated prices cost consumers.

The settlement that was agreed to is very small compared to the profits that these companies made.

These companies then can just treat them as a cost of doing business.

Commercial poultry farms have also come under scrutiny for violating federal health safety standards and confinements where thousands of egg-laying chickens are raised in unsanitary conditions.

Commercial operations have countered that their products do not pose health risks because cooking poultry eliminates the threat of salmonella and other contaminants.

I'm Mark Moran.

Finally, the bipartisan budget in Pennsylvania takes a few small steps forward in addressing early child care and education but still falls short, according to Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children.

The $50.8 billion spending plan contains modest investments in programs for kids and families.

The partnership's Kerry King says they appreciate the support, but notes lawmakers leaned on leftover funds instead of new revenue.

King says in early education, the governor proposed $9.5 million for pre-K counts and Head Start, but the funding target wasn't reached.

And then what was in the enacted budget is $3.75 million for pre-K and $1 million for Head Start, so $4.75 overall.

Danielle Smith reporting.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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