News from around the nation.

Mexico's president says its 'position is not to close borders' in response to Trump's claim; CO hospitals fail on informing consumers about rights and discounts; MA boosts educator diversity to improve student outcomes; EPA grants to fund IL port energy projects.

Transcript

The public news service Thursday afternoon update, Thanksgiving 2024.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Mexican President Claudia Schoenbaum assured President-elect Donald Trump at a phone call Wednesday that migrant caravans are no longer reaching the US-Mexican border after Trump's threat earlier this week to impose a 25 percent tariff on imports from her country if it could not halt irregular migrants and Fenetol from crossing the border.

That for the Washington Post.

Their report, Trump said Schoenbaum had agreed to stop migration through Mexico, which would mean effectively closing the southern border.

In a second post, Trump said it would come into effect immediately, prompting another tweet from Schoenbaum in which she said Mexico's stance is not to close borders, but to build bridges.

Meantime, Colorado hospitals got failing grades for compliance with the Colorado Hospital Discounted Care Law.

That's according to a new report.

The law passed in 2021 and requires hospitals to tell patients about their rights and access to discounts.

Sophia Hennessy is with the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative.

She says people across the state still report the cost of healthcare is too high and without access to discounted care, many are skipping doctor's appointments.

Fear of that hospital bill and like, if care is so expensive that it'll put you in medical debt or make it harder to have housing or food.

And that's never a decision that we want anyone in Colorado to have to make.

58 percent of hospitals technically met the law's basic requirements.

The report shows many just went through the motions.

I'm Eric Galatas.

And Illinois, like many states, continues to seek innovative solutions for cleaner air.

The Biden administration recently selected the Illinois International Port District for funding under the Clean Ports Program.

It will guide the port sector to transition to fully zero emissions operations and identify ways to reduce emissions to align with port industry standard practices.

Executive Director Amy Andrus sees the benefits of the program, but questions what happens as improvements are made.

A lot of the grants, the EPA grants that have come out, they're talking about, let's retrofit your material handler that may run on diesel to say, now be powered by an electric engine or a higher tiered, less emission motor, right?

Well, what are you doing with the old one?

I'm Terry Dee reporting.

Next to Massachusetts, lawmakers are hoping a new teacher certification process will draw more diverse candidates to the classroom.

The state recently passed legislation to create alternative pathways for teachers who struggle to pass the certification exam, but can otherwise demonstrate competence in their field.

American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts President Jessica Tang says the effort is ultimately good for students.

You're gonna run into a lot of diversity and when you are exposed to the diversity in our schools, that actually helps prepare you.

Tang says even some of the state's previous Teacher of the Year award winners have struggled to pass the certification exam.

This is public news service.

A bill introduced in the Congress is now facing backlash from nonprofit organizations that warn it could stifle free speech.

The Stop Terror Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act would postpone tax deadlines for citizens who are unlawfully detained abroad or held hostage, but it would also give the federal government the power to remove the tax exempt status of any nonprofit group it deems to be supporting terrorist organizations.

Critics of the bill claim it would give President-elect Donald Trump the power to make those decisions about churches, universities, news outlets, and more.

In Pennsylvania, Lisa DiPaoli with the Center for Coalfield Justice says it could be used to stifle the environmental work they do.

The main issue for us is that it could take away our nonprofit designation and it could take away our First Amendment rights.

If stripped of our rights, it'll just make the fight to protect our communities that much harder.

Proponents say it would require the federal government to provide evidence that a nonprofit has supported a listed terrorist organization.

More than 130 religious, civil rights, and other advocacy groups have joined the ACLU in asking lawmakers to vote against the bill.

I'm Simone Perez.

And billions of animals are killed for food every day, and one low-end estimate says that number likely reaches more than one trillion every year around the globe.

We get more in this sentiment, West Virginia News Service collaboration.

Associate professor of law at Vermont Law and Graduate School, Delciano Winders, says she's studied how slaughter line speeds, defined as how many animals per minute are allowed to be killed, have changed, noting there's an increasing amount of pressure to kill more animals faster.

For example, in the United States, the regulations say that a single slaughter line can't kill more than 1,106 pigs per hour, which is already a staggering number, but there have been efforts to speed that up.

A 2023 study published in Sustainable Production and Consumption found that 24 percent of livestock animals die prematurely at some point in the supply chain.

They either die on the farm or in transit, or once processed or thrown away by grocers, restaurants, and consumers.

Nadia Ramlagon reporting.

We had five in the Mississippi, where five women have been incarcerated longer than anyone else in the state.

Together, they've served over 100 years with their releases collectively denied, a total of 47 times.

One of the women is Loretta Pierre at the Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood.

She wants other folks in Mississippi to know she will continue to fight for her freedom.

I think I deserve a second chance, just like everybody else. 72 other women have made parole since I've been incarcerated under the same charge with the same amount of time, and I think I deserve a chance just like they do.

This story produced as an Appeal, Mississippi News Service collaboration.

Happy Thanksgiving.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

Member and listener supported.

Hear us on interesting radio stations, your favorite podcast platform.

Find our content and trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.