News from around the nation.

Second federal judge orders temporary reinstatement of thousands of probationary employees fired by the Trump administration; U.S., Canada political tension could affect Maine summer tourism; Report: Incarceration rates rise in MS, U.S. despite efforts at reform; MI study: HBCU students show better mental health, despite challenges.

Transcript

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

A second federal judge ruled Thursday that thousands of probationary employees laid off en masse by the Trump administration must be temporarily reinstated to their jobs.

That's from CNN.

They report the new temporary restraining order from a senior judge, James Bredar, an Obama appointee, covers 18 agencies and will last two weeks as a challenge to the terminations from Democratic state attorneys general moves forward.

CNN notes the decision comes after a federal judge presiding over a separate lawsuit in California reversed mass layoffs of probationary workers among a smaller list of agencies on Thursday.

And political tensions between the U.S. and Canada could spell trouble for Maine's tourism industry.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has encouraged Canadians to spend their money at home this summer following President Donald Trump's on-and-off-again tariff and annexation threats.

James Myall with the Maine Center for Economic Policy says even a partial decline in visitors could have negative ripple effects.

There are a lot of other jobs in Maine that are supported indirectly by the tourist industry because folks working in tourism spend their money at places like hairdressers and gas stations and grocery stores.

Canadians made up just 5 percent of visitors to Maine in 2023, yet the small group spent more than $450 million, according to the Maine Office of Tourism.

I'm Catherine Carley.

And a new report shows the incarceration rate for Americans is rising, and at the same time, the U. S. crime rate is falling to historic lows.

A study by the non-profit advocacy group Prison Policy Initiative finds almost 2 million Americans are behind bars in state, federal, and local jails at a rate of 580 detainees per 1,000 people.

Wanda Bertram with the initiative says despite some attempts at criminal justice reform, the U.S. remains a world leader in locking people up.

We are fourth in the world for incarceration rates, and there are many states in this country that lock up way more people than the national average, including Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, and many other states in the South.

Mississippi's incarceration rate is 1,020, among the highest in the country, and almost double the national rate.

The report, "Mass Incarceration, The Whole Pie," found that just nine states are driving 77 percent of prison growth, while 10 states have reduced their incarceration since 2021.

I'm Mark Richardson.

Next, researchers at the University of Michigan found that black students attending historically black colleges and universities, and predominantly black institutions, experience better mental health outcomes compared to their peers at other institutions, but challenges do remain.

Akilah Patterson, lead researcher of the study and doctoral candidate at the University of Michigan, surveyed 2,500 students.

About 45 percent of them are flourishing mentally.

Most notably we saw that 83 percent of HBCU and PBI students reported having a sense of belonging in their campus community compared to about 73 percent nationally.

U of M's Healthy Minds Network surveyed college mental health in a partnership with UCLA, Wayne State, and Boston University.

This is public news service.

The Sierra Club and other partners are suing Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, over the mass firings of federal workers across multiple agencies.

The groups contend the purge will have devastating impacts on Arizona's public lands and parks.

Sierra Club managing attorney Gloria Smith predicts severe reductions in funding and staffing affect visitor safety, wildlife protection, wildfire prevention, and proper maintenance of lands.

The trails are likely to not be maintained.

There's a good chance that campgrounds will not be cleaned up and cared for.

There's a lot of work that goes into making a park presentable and safe for the high season when millions and millions of people visit.

The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are two of the large federal employers responsible for hiring wildland firefighters.

If hiring stalls, it could spell trouble for the 40 percent of public land in Arizona.

I'm Alex Gonzalez reporting.

Meantime, Maryland is facing a three billion dollar budget deficit and planned cuts in 2026 would include millions in disability assistance.

More than 20,000 Marylanders with disabilities receive state support to help their families afford caregiver services.

More than 3,500 families use self-directed services, which give families the ability to set up caregiving separately from traditional programs.

Those services in the proposed budget will face cuts, which advocates say would drive caregivers out of the system to better paying opportunities.

Hamza Khan, a disability rights advocate, has two siblings with special needs.

He says funding issues stem from the state overextending itself while getting federal COVID-19 assistance.

As the pandemic wind down, the state also received one-time federal injections of cash into our budget.

And it appears that the governor built those in to be long-term injections of cash.

And he built those in structurally to the budget rather than accounting for them to be one-time.

Governor Westmore's supplemental budget avoided steep cuts through the rest of 2025, but did not address more than $400 million in cuts for next year.

I'm Simone Perez.

Finally, Indiana lawmakers introduced a third property tax plan this week, aiming to protect local governments from funding cuts while offering minimal relief to homeowners.

The proposal, led by GOP Representative Jeff Thompson of Liston, would change how property taxes are calculated, including phasing out certain homestead deductions and shifting local income tax authority.

When you raise the rate, pocketbook lost some money.

You lower the rate, pocketbook gains some money.

That's the right system. won't be always smooth but the alternative is where we're at right now and we can continue on down the path and we'll have the same result.

Thompson's plan joins competing proposals from Governor Mike Braun and Senate Republicans.

I'm Joe Ulari, Public News Service.

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

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