News from around the nation.

The GOP-led House declines to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the voting mood in farm country shifted in 2026. What happens now? An Okefenokee Refuge faces staffing shortages amid a national crisis.

Transcript

The Public News Service Wednesday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

The GOP-led House Tuesday declined to indict Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The New York Times notes the vote came hours after Hegseth defended himself defiantly at a Pentagon news briefing, equating the criticisms of him to critiques of American troops.

Party leaders expressed concern low attendance by their members could doom their chances to save Hegseth.

In the end, more Democrats than Republicans missed the vote.

Representative Thomas Massey compared the GOP with passengers content to go down with the Titanic.

That after colleagues thwarted his effort to impeach Hegseth, Massey added, What I found out tonight is they still haven't broken from the smell of Donald Trump.

He still controls this conference.

Meantime, voters in farming communities didn't shy away from wanting change in this month's midterm elections.

A Minnesota-based ag policy researcher says this voting bloc added to the major swing toward Democrats, with potential impacts on how food is produced.

Election analysts say rural voters shifted blue by nearly 15 percentage points when compared to 2024.

Michael Happ with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy says it's no secret farmers weren't happy with higher diesel and fertilizer costs linked to actions like the war with Iran.

Places like Nobles County and Maurer County in Minnesota or Marshall County, Iowa, These are places that swung really hard and made the difference in some races.

Pat predicts the new Congress might have a bigger appetite for moves that bolster local food hubs and regional supply chains.

I'm Mike Moen.

And the National Wildlife Refuge System is the nation's largest network of public lands and waters dedicated to wildlife conservation, but is facing a staffing crisis.

On Friday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a long-awaited review of the system.

Christian Hunt, director of the National Wildlife Refuges and Parks Program at Defenders of Wildlife, says the review fails to adequately address the staffing crisis.

We know that most refuges lack staff.

We know that not a single refuge is adequately resourced and that these places are starving and effectively dying on the vine.

The Interior Department says its 29 recommendations would improve operations, cut bureaucracy, and direct more resources to conservation work.

I'm Tramiel Gomes.

Next, bats have long suffered from a reputation as spooky, frightening creatures, but wildlife experts say they're critical to maintaining healthy ecosystems throughout New England.

David Mizajewski with the National Wildlife Federation says bats are keeping insect populations in check, which makes spending time outdoors more enjoyable.

Many bad species are also consuming things like mosquitoes.

So brown bats, for example, can eat a thousand mosquitoes in an hour.

And that's good because mosquitoes are pests to people.

They're an annoyance and they can spread disease.

Bats are known to eat their entire body weight in bugs each night.

This is Public News Service.

Pennsylvania has a new law that will ban the manufacturer's sale and distribution of Class B firefighting foams that contain intentionally added PFAS chemicals. 96% of waterways tested in Pennsylvania from 2020 to 2024 contain PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, according to a new study.

Jennifer Quinn with the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter says Senate Bill 804 passed both chambers this session, and Governor Josh Shapiro signed it into law in October.

She notes that environmental organizations have worked with the state's firefighters union for six years to get the bill passed.

Getting PFAS containing firefighting foam band not only protects firefighters, it protects drinking water, right, and soil and communities.

These long-lasting chemicals have been linked to certain cancers, immune system problems, and other health risks, with firefighters facing greater exposure through firefighting foam and contaminated protective gear.

Danielle Smith reporting.

And a new report offers a roadmap for California colleges to attract more working adults to pursue a degree.

The nonprofit California Competes is out with new findings showing the state has more than six million adults of prime working age without higher education credentials.

The organization's Sujin Jez says colleges around the region must make it easier for people to pursue their studies while working full-time to support a family.

So this means flexible schedules, making financial aid and child care more accessible, and providing the concrete support today's students need to finish.

Among California adults ages 25 to 54 who graduated high school but not college, almost half took college classes but did not complete a degree.

I'm Suzanne Potter.

And finally, November is National Family Caregivers Month.

New research finds helping loved ones age safely is becoming increasingly more expensive, with out-of-pocket costs associated with care surging nearly 60 percent in five years.

New AARP research finds family caregivers spend more than $11,000 a year on out-of-pocket expenses, with those costs swallowing a third of their household income on average.

Josh Askfig with AARP North Dakota notes for those earning less than $40,000 a year.

Those expenses can account for more than 75% of household budgets.

Folks are already feeling pinched, but when you combine that with the fact that you're seeing this big increase of those unpaid family members helping their loved ones, you realize very quickly that caregivers need practical support.

AARP estimates 82,000 North Dakotans provide unpaid care for adult family members and friends, work valued at $1.3 billion annually.

I'm Judith Ruiz Branch reporting.

This is by Clifford for Public News Service.

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