News from around the nation.

At least nine killed in Austria school shooting; Camp Pendleton Marines deployed to L.A.; after ICE protests; KY teachers: Just say 'no' to national school voucher program; Report: CT ranks 8th in child well-being, economic challenges remain; NC lawmakers considering dam safety grant fund.

Transcript

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

A shooter opened fire at a high school in the Austrian city of Graz, authorities said, Tuesday, killing nine people, including teenagers, in one of the worst rampages in the country's history.

That from CNN.

The country's interior minister told CNN the victims included children between 14 and 18 years old.

The perpetrator is also dead and the school has been secured.

As for the LA Times, the Pentagon approved the deployment of 700 U.S. Marines from Camp Pendleton to LA with a mission of helping protect federal agents and buildings.

Meantime, Congress is considering a bill that would, for the first time, create a nationalized school voucher program, redirecting billions in federal funds from public schools toward private schools.

Kentucky educators say that would hurt counties across the Commonwealth, where 90 percent of kids, around 650,000, attend a public school.

Last November, Kentuckians weighed in on a ballot measure, Amendment 2, that would have allowed the legislature to spend tax money on private institutions, explains Eddie Campbell with the Kentucky Education Association.

It lost, it was voted down in every single county, every single community across the Commonwealth.

The Educational Choice for Children Act would funnel $10 billion per year to states in tax credits for school vouchers.

Nadia Ramligan reporting.

We head next to Connecticut, where that new report we've been following says the state is stagnating in improving child well-being.

The state ranks eighth in the Annie E. Casey Kids Count data book for the second year in a row.

While the state remained in the top ten, experts say there's room for improvement.

Connecticut improved its health ranking and education remains high, but Carmen Clarkin with Connecticut Voices for Children says high housing costs still stand in the way of future progress.

Connecticut ranks 44th in the nation for housing cost burden, reflecting one of the most severe affordability challenges in the country.

Housing costs have steadily increased over the past decade, and this issue is the primary factor dragging down the state's overall ranking in economic well-being.

This year's budget funds several initiatives to improve children's well-being.

The new state budget increases investments in early childhood care and education.

Clarkin feels a state child tax credit could help families, but it wasn't included in the budget.

Instead, lawmakers are offering a $250 state income tax break specifically for low-income families with children or other dependents as part of the state's earned income tax credit program.

This is Edwin J. Vieira.

Next, advocates are calling on North Carolina lawmakers to pass a law establishing a dam safety fund as part of recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene.

Part two of the 2025 Disaster Recovery Act would create a $10 million dam safety grant fund to repair, modify, or remove dams impacted by the storm.

John Council, a resident of Huatuka County, says many of the dams are obsolete and not designed for flood control.

When we get a large flood, they impound the waters behind them.

When those dams fail and give way, that's when you end up with these incredibly devastating flash floods.

The Department of Environmental Quality would administer the fund and prioritize removal for dams deemed the most hazardous.

This is Public News Service.

As Michigan pursues climate goals, landfills remain a hidden but powerful source of emissions, but one county leader is working to fix that.

We get the details in this Planet Detroit-MIT Climate Change Engagement Program, Public News Service collaboration.

Every day, about 800 garbage trucks roll into the South Kenton Landfill just outside Grand Rapids, dumping everything from old sofas to food waste.

The landfill is now nearly full.

As head of the county's Department of Public Works, Darwin Boss is trying to reduce how much waste ends up in these landfills.

Over the past decade, he has led waste reduction efforts, including capturing methane from the landfill and keeping Michigan's only waste-to-energy incinerator running.

The South Kenton Landfill is a voluntary program.

We installed, in partnership with a private company, the ability to generate electricity.

So whether you're generating RNG, renewable natural gas, or electricity, or just flaring it off.

Boss is also planning a business park which would turn food and yard waste into useful products.

Crystal Blair reporting.

Next, the New Mexico Coalition is stressing an urgent need for the state to adopt the strongest possible heat risk standards for indoor and outdoor workers.

New Mexico is the sixth-fastest warming state in the nation, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, fueled by climate change that makes heat waves more common.

Green Latino's community advocate, Carlos Matutas, says 80 percent of those working in agriculture are Latino, as are 64 percent of those working in the building trades.

He notes Latino workers also are overrepresented in oil and gas production and need to be protected.

Depriving them of paid rest periods of shade of water during the summer months is unconscionable.

And we're trying to make sure that New Mexico Environment Department establishes these rules as quickly as possible.

I'm Roz Brown.

Finally, Governor Ferguson signed Washington's first rent stabilization law, and renters and advocates who fought for the bill are breathing sighs of relief.

The new law caps the amount that landlords can raise yearly rents at 7 percent plus inflation, or 10 percent, whichever is less.

For manufactured homes, increases are limited to 5 percent.

The move comes after years of advocacy by renters like Carolyn Hardy, a retiree in Aberdeen whose manufactured home community faced up to 50 percent yearly increases under new corporate ownership.

She says her community is mostly seniors living on fixed incomes, and the increases have become untenable.

It was getting to the point where people were skipping meals and they were not able to afford prescriptions.

I couldn't afford my diabetic medicine.

It was getting scary.

We're getting mad.

Landlords, associations and real estate agencies fought hard against the bill, saying it would impede development.

I'm Isabel Charlay.

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

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