News from around the nation.

CIA director travels to Cuba with blackouts and protests in the streets; Minnesota is on the verge of becoming the first state to ban prediction markets; North Carolina prison official calls for passage of a Critical Needs Budget; Ohio nurses help hospice patients navigate end-of-life decisions.

Transcript

The Public News Service Friday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

The Cuban government says the country is now without any reserves to fuel power plants.

On the heels of that news, CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Havana on Thursday for meetings with senior Cuban security and intelligence officials as blackouts swept the country and protesters took to the streets.

The Washington Post notes President Donald Trump has said that Cuba is next in line as soon as he finishes his war with Iran.

Meantime, prediction markets are now a flashpoint in the debate over online trades and wagering.

Our Mike Mullen lets us know Minnesota could soon set the tone in regulating these platforms with an outright ban.

This week, the legislature sent Governor Tim Mullen a public safety bill that, if signed, would establish the nation's first law to prohibit platforms like CalShe from operating.

These apps allow participants to buy contracts with a payoff dependent on the outcome of just about any event, from global conflict to entertainment awards.

In a recent committee hearing, Annette Meeks with Citizens Against Expanded Gambling said prediction markets work around existing laws.

Prediction markets are unregulated.

They pay zero in-state taxes and regulatory fees.

That means that the state receives zero revenue, but the state and all 87 counties are left to handle the social pathologies left behind.

Operators argue their platforms are different from gambling because there is no house setting the odds.

I'm Mike Mowen.

And a North Carolina prison official is sounding the alarm over the impacts of a budget impasse on the ability to staff prisons adequately and conduct needed maintenance.

Democratic Governor Josh Stein warned that the Department of Adult Correction is struggling, at times asking vendors to float them on their bills.

Stein proposed a so-called critical needs budget of nearly one and a half billion dollars.

Secretary Leslie DeSmooks says staffing shortages and issues with recruitment hinder in-person education and vocational training.

If we can't run safe prisons, we cannot run good programming.

If we're not running good programming, we are releasing people who don't have the education and vocational training and who are not going to succeed upon reentry, which means the commission of more crime and that they will be right back in prison.

And that is not how we create safe communities.

North Carolina was the only state in the country to not pass a budget last year as Republicans who control the state legislature debated over teacher pay raises and cuts to income taxes.

I'm Zamone Perez.

Next on the heels of National Nurses, we hospice nurses are raising awareness about access to compassionate end-of-life care and medical decisions in the black community.

Missy Moore is a longtime hospice nurse and member of the African-American Leadership Council for Compassionate Choices.

So my son was very young. he was 32 years old.

He had advanced disease.

And before any doctors came in to talk to him, I went to him and said, I want you to tell me what you think life is going to look like from now on.

Medicare, Medicaid, and most insurance plans provide coverage for hospice care when health care providers predict a patient has six months or less to live.

This is Public News Service.

If you look back to 2023, Florida lawmakers voted unanimously to expand kid care.

The state marketplace for the Children's Health Insurance Program, they raised the eligibility threshold to 300% of the federal poverty level.

That would have extended affordable coverage to more than 40,000 kids.

For families like Erin Booth, the consequences are real.

So now my son goes without PT, OT, and speech. and it's now getting to the point where it's getting my sons behind physically, emotionally, and mentally.

His mental health is deteriorating because he can't keep up with his peers.

Her son Landon was diagnosed with leukemia at age 5.

Now in remission at age 10, he suffers from treatment-related disabilities, including osteoporosis.

Booth pays nearly $280 a month for healthy kids coverage, plus co-pays, but the therapies he needs are not covered.

According to KFF Health News, Florida has not implemented a 2023 expansion that would help families like hers.

I'm Tramiel Gomes.

Next, New York advocates are celebrating wildlife protections for Endangered Species Day.

This year marks the 21st anniversary and honors the numerous species saved by the Endangered Species Act, like New York's piping plover and the bald eagle.

But there's more work to be done, given there are 55 endangered species in New York.

Tara Thornton with the Endangered Species Coalition says there are ways people can act to save endangered species.

Volunteer with some of these local organizations and help them out with what they do.

Plant some native plants in your garden this year, helping out those pollinators.

They could use a lot of help as well.

So there's lots of those actions that people can do.

This comes as the state is being proactive about keeping some species from being endangered.

In 2025, New York passed a law calling on the Department of Environmental Conservation to regulate horseshoe crab management and prohibit taking them for commercial and biomedical uses.

I'm Edwin J. Vieia.

Finally, some of the biggest social media sites on the internet are becoming more toxic for LGBTQ plus users.

That's according to the new LGBTQ social media safety index produced by GLAD.

Researchers from the non-profit media advocacy organization evaluated the company's policies related to LGBTQ safety, privacy, and expression.

Jenny Olson, senior director of GLAAD's social media safety program, says Meta, X, and YouTube's scores hit new lows.

The platforms are largely failing to mitigate harmful anti-LGBTQ hate and disinformation.

Representatives from X, Metta and YouTube did not respond to a request for comment.

I'm Suzanne Potter.

Last year, YouTube removed gender identity from the list of protected characteristics in its hate speech policy.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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