News from around the nation.

At test today for Trump’s efforts to oust GOP candidates in Indiana who have opposed him; Abortion pill ban lifted but Appalachia’s crisis pregnancy centers boom; Economic justice focus of new Minnesota job training center; Sustainable farmers urge high court to reject Monsanto immunity bid.

Transcript

The Public News Service Tuesday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Today will be a test for President Trump's strategy of opposing GOP candidates who have opposed him.

It happens today in the Indiana state primaries in Tennessee.

Trump and his allies are trying to unseat seven GOP state senators who voted last year against redrawing the state's congressional map.

And U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that the ceasefire with Iran was not over.

Reuters notes he said that even as the U.S. and Iran exchange fire in the Gulf as they wrestle for control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Meantime, Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a telemedicine ban on mefepristone, the abortion pill.

Medication abortions account for the majority of pregnancies terminated within the first 12 weeks, according to the Gutmarker Institute.

Our Nadia Ramlagan reports a decision means women in West Virginia will at least temporarily be able to access medication abortion through the mail.

However, anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers continue to pop up in communities in West Virginia and the Appalachian region, according to Brandi Collins-Calhoun with the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy.

Coercing people into hearing pregnancies to term can be life or death.

It could be housing or unhoused.

Having children impacts one's life in such a drastic way, more than just changing diapers and daycare.

Next, Minnesota partners are breaking ground on a new regional training center where disadvantaged populations can ready themselves for good-paying jobs that come with union support.

A construction kickoff event for the Rise Up Center in Minneapolis was held on Monday.

Officials say it'll be a hub for people of color and working families to access apprenticeship-themed programs and job training opportunities in the construction, service, food, and green energy sectors.

Bernie Burnham with the Minnesota AFL-CIO says young people coming from households where working two to three jobs is the normal need to know that they too can achieve stable and prosperous careers.

These are tough times in our world and I think opportunities like this are only going to increase the strength of our young folks who are coming up into the working world.

I'm Mike Moen.

And a coalition of sustainable farmers are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a bid from Roundup maker Monsanto owned by Bayer to shield the company from cancer lawsuits concerning pesticides.

Liz Moran-Stoke with the Illinois Stewardship Alliance says the long-term viability of American agriculture is in danger but not dependent upon the use of glyphosate, Roundup's main ingredient.

She cites harm to people, the planet, and farm workers.

In an incredibly consolidated system, there's very few choices of the products that they can use, and that absolutely requires the most information and the most protection that farmers and communities get.

In the amicus brief, the group rebuffs claims from agribusiness groups that the industry would collapse if companies are required to warn consumers of cancer associated with products like Roundup.

This is Public News Service.

Hundreds of abandoned coal mines dot the Kentucky countryside, leaving scars on the land and the people who worked in them.

But with an influx of federal infrastructure money, mine remediation projects are restoring the countryside and putting Kentuckians to work.

A study by the Ohio River Valley Institute says Kentucky will receive more than a billion dollars over 15 years under the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law.

Report author Eric Dixon says Kentucky has some of the nation's highest levels of unreclaimed mine damage.

A lot of damage accumulated over decades and in fact over a century of coal mining.

This program, the Federal Abandoned Mine Land Program, is focused on claiming those sites that were abandoned a long time ago that caused historic damage and were never cleaned up.

Contracting has surged most visibly in eastern Kentucky, where many sites are concentrated, while the western part of the state has also grown from a smaller base.

Dixon says the average contract is $27 million and that 90 percent of the work went to Kentucky-based firms.

I'm Mark Richardson.

And opponents of a property tax relief law that passed the South Dakota legislature this year want the issue on the November ballot.

A coalition called South Dakotans for Fair Taxes is launching a ballot question proposal to ask voters if they support the law.

Senate Bill 245 will transfer money from the state's scheduled sales tax increase set to take effect next year into a fund for property tax relief.

Ned Horstead is chair of South Dakotans for Fair Taxes and a Republican candidate for State House District 6.

He called this an unjust wealth transfer that benefits upper-income homeowners.

About two-thirds of South Dakotans own their homes.

There's an entire third of the population that's going to pay more at the grocery store, pay more for anything that they do.

The sales tax cut enacted by the state legislature three years ago ends on June 30, 2027, when the sales tax will increase from 4.2 percent to 4.5 percent.

I'm Laura Hatch reporting.

Finally, solving a shortage of affordable housing in Pittsburgh will require better coordination among municipalities across Allegheny County.

The county doesn't control zoning.

Instead, more than 130 local municipalities set their own rules, which makes it difficult to guide housing development.

Ebony Flowers, with new voices for reproductive justice, says demand continues to outpace available housing, and the county is moving towards a more coordinated housing approach under its Housing for All program.

She adds that the strategy aims to bring alignment and coordination across all those municipalities.

I think that coordination is really critical and it's going to make them address the housing shortage more meaningfully.

Danielle Smith reporting.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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