News from around the nation.

As the White House revamps food dye policy, health experts discuss the impacts on kids; postal employees cite dangerous working conditions and push for major reforms; and bill surfaces in Congress to put tariff revenue back in the hands of consumers.

Transcript

The Public News Service Daily Newscast afternoon update for Monday, March 16, 2026.

I'm Mike Moen.

The 32 member countries of the International Energy Agency could release more oil from emergency stockpiles if necessary, on top of 400 million barrels announced last week.

The Associated Press says that message came today from the IEA executive director.

He said last week's release was a buffer for now, and it helped restrain the increase in oil prices.

Meanwhile, jet fuel prices are rising as the war in the Middle East disrupts global oil supplies, putting cost pressure on airlines as the busy summer travel season approaches.

Experts say it's not a question of if airfares will go up, but when, for how long, and by how much.

The impact may be felt most on long-haul international routes, which burn significantly more fuel than shorter flights.

In other news, the Trump administration has reversed its proposal to outright ban food dyes that have been known to cause health problems.

Rita Ross explains.

Instead, Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is asking food manufacturers to agree to remove six synthetic petroleum-based food dyes from their products.

Thomas Galligan with the Center for Science and the Public Interest says the additives can cause acute behavioral problems in children.

They can become aggressive, they can have impacts on their sleep, and these types of effects when children are being exposed or burned over again can add up and impact children's academic and social success.

Galligan says once a child stops consuming foods containing dyes, many symptoms go away.

Kennedy has defended the move toward the voluntary agreement as progress that should encourage food companies to adapt safer, naturally derived alternatives.

I'm Freda Ross reporting.

Women in the U.S. experience gender-based discrimination, but not so much as transgender women.

March is Women's History Month, although trans women have been significantly left out of the month-long recognition.

Toni Newman with the group Trans Can Work says it's common for trans women to experience significantly higher rates of unemployment, poverty, and workplace discrimination compared to the general population.

She encourages employers to use this month to reshape their hiring model.

Diversity brings on new ideas and growth and change that sometimes can really benefit a company.

And if that trans woman is qualified, we ask that you give them equal consideration in workforce development.

This all comes as Congress considers the proposed Save America Voter ID law ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

President Donald Trump is pushing to have unrelated provisions added to the bill, including requirements to ban trans girls and women from sports that align with their gender identity and block transition surgeries for minors.

This is PNS.

A new federal bill would give U.S. shoppers tariff rebates.

The Tariff Relief for Consumers Act uses the estimated $166 billion collected from tariffs the U.S. Supreme Court struck down to reimburse taxpayers.

Supporters say the goal is to provide relief from high everyday costs on consumer goods.

Representative Rosa DeLauro, the bill's sponsor, says these refunds should prioritize everyday Americans.

The bill prohibits companies receiving refunds from paying out dividends or conducting stock buybacks until they have provided relief to consumers.

Because my view is that consumers and small businesses need to come before their wealthy shareholders.

Despite the Supreme Court's ruling, President Donald Trump is using other laws to implement tariffs.

The Yale Budget Lab notes these tariffs will cost consumers $572 initially, but they're expected to grow to more than $1,100 as they're continually renewed.

And these cost increases come as gas prices go up due to the war on Iran.

On the labor front, the American Postal Workers Union is calling for major safety reforms at the U.S. Postal Service after a series of troubling events.

Suzanne Potter has more.

Last fall in Michigan, a postal worker was crushed to death next to a machine, and his body wasn't discovered for hours.

The union says the Postal Service consistently reports more workplace injuries than nearly all other federal agencies.

Jamila Bush, president of the Reno Postal Workers Union, says management sometimes fails to follow the Postal Service's own rules, waiting for approval from higher-ups, for example, before calling an ambulance when an employee needs emergency care.

Calling 911 in an emergency should be allowed to happen and no employee should be threatened or fired.

The union has launched a safety campaign called Talk is Cheap, Safety Matters, and has published a safety checklist for workers.

The USPS did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.

I'm Suzanne Potter.

And as Illinois pushes to reform its juvenile justice system, one lawmaker says lessons learned from across the Atlantic could help change the state's approach to young people in conflict with the law.

A group of Illinois state legislators, policymakers, and practitioners went to Northern Ireland to see firsthand how its child-first juvenile justice system supports better outcomes for kids and communities.

State Representative Kelly Cassidy of Chicago says she was struck by the difference in how their system approaches the issue, seeing these young people as children rather than offenders.

If we could just start by adopting the concept of children first, like acknowledge that they are children and then work from that place, that alone would be a huge shift because they are offenders first under our system.

Cassidy also notes prosecutors are not politicians in Northern Ireland, which she says removes the competitive political nature from the entire juvenile justice system there.

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

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