News from around the nation.

Lawyer tells ABC News his 2 clients told House Ethics Committee that Gaetz paid them for sex; immigrant families in northwest Arkansas struggle to make ends meet; Colorado Report: Financially stressed managers abuse workers; Massachusetts farmers, families brace for cuts to fresh produce benefits.

Transcript

The public news service Tuesday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Ukraine used us long-range missiles to strike Russian territory for the first time on Tuesday.

Moscow said in an attack regarded by Russia as a major escalation on day 1000 of the war. T

hat from Reuters

They report Russia said his forces shot down five of six missiles fired at a military facility.

Ukraine said it had struck a Russian arms depot about 70 miles inside Russia and caused secondary explosions.

Meantime Russian President Vladimir Putin formally lowered the threshold for his country's use of nuclear weapons Tuesday, days after the US allowed Ukraine to strike inside Russia using those American missiles.

Next the Environmental Protection Agency is delivering more than 21.9 million dollars to Detroit Wayne County Port Authority.

They're aiming to provide a greener future and cut pollution that comes from port equipment.

Detroit's Port Authority runs several terminals that move goods and passengers.

Steel is the most valuable cargo while ore is the heaviest.

The port also handles things such as stone coal and cement.

The grant will help cover the cost of equipment such as battery electric forklifts cranes rail car movers charging stations and even solar panels.

Port of Detroit executive director Mark Shrub is especially excited about adding six battery operated forklift trucks.

And so instead of having diesel fumes going into the air, you're gonna have nothing going into the air.

So that'll be the biggest impact is on air quality or the workers and the people around those terminals.

Crystal Blair reporting.

Meantime, Indiana environmental advocates are facing uncertainties following the election.

Changes in federal leadership could shift key environmental protections creating questions for state policies on coal ash and water quality.

Sam Carpenter is executive director of the Hoosier Environmental Council.

He notes federal regulations like those from the EPA have helped Indiana manage environmental challenges including addressing unlined coal ash pits contaminating groundwater.

But with shifting federal priorities, there's a question of what will happen to these protections.

The EPA had recently came out with guidelines that require those to be cleaned up.

There's similar things with coal-fired power plants where we still rely quite a bit on our coal power generation, which is dirty.

Carpenter says the plants are costly and harmful to health and climate.

I'm Joe O'Leary public news service.

And some Kentuckians are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer and more likely to die from the disease And others.

Dr. Nathan Vander Ford at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine says Kentucky has a massive cancer problem.

What's worse is that the cancer problem is significantly greater in Eastern, Kentucky.

So there are 54 counties in Eastern Kentucky that are in the Appalachian region and cancer rates, they are significantly higher.

The Commonwealth ranks first in the nation for overall cancer incidence rates and second for overall mortality rates.

This is public news service.

Next to New England where Massachusetts farmers say they are bracing for revenue losses due to cuts in SNAP benefits for fresh produce.

Starting December 1st families who utilize the state's healthy incentives program to buy food directly from farmers will see their benefits cut to just $20 a month regardless of household size.

Rebecca Miller with the Massachusetts Food System Collaborative says many farmers have structured their operations around these customers.

A lot of them are worried that they might have to do layoffs, especially for folks that they've hired that are multilingual that serve folks with SNAP benefits.

Miller says less money being spent at farmers markets will have a ripple effect across the state's agricultural industry.

Nearly 300 farmers participate in the SNAP program, but state officials say the cuts are needed due to budget constraints.

I'm Catherine Carley.

And American Education Week is underway.

Nebraskans are asked to find trust again in public school systems including in rural areas.

There have been some improvements, but national polling shows a majority of Americans are still dissatisfied with K through 12 education.

A Gallup survey last year showed a peak level of 63 percent.

It's down to 55 percent this year, but advocates say it's clear.

They need more public support.

Jack Moles of the Nebraska Rural Community Schools Association feels teachers remain dedicated.

Even though the classroom environment is much more different than when he was teaching.

It was a tough job then It's much tougher today and you know people are still going into it.

Moles says that dedication is apparent as students increasingly demonstrate social and emotional needs following the pandemic.

He says teacher staffing shortages are still an issue but notes communities are getting creative with solutions that center around housing and other recruitment tools.

Moles encourages more of these efforts as a way to show support.

I'm Mike Moen.

Finally with housing prices nearly doubling in the last 10 years the number of Oregonians who can afford to buy a home without assistance has dwindled.

A new coalition has formed to change that.

The unlocking home ownership coalition is made up of more than 20 Oregon Organizations and is submitting plans to the legislature to help address this problem.

The plans include investing in affordable housing assistance for first-time homebuyers and closing the 15 percent home ownership gap for communities of color.

Habitat for Humanity of Oregon is leading the coalition Shannon Vilhauer is Habitat's executive director.

Some Oregonians have just done all the right things right worked on credit repair saving for a down payment and yet interest rates are high.

Wages have not kept pace with home prices and sometimes we all need a handout to enter this first-time home ownership market Well from owning land.

I'm Isabel Sharlae.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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