News from around the nation.

Harris and Trump battle to the wire in swing states; Iowa's rural voters show historic engagement and passion; Pennsylvania Lehigh Valley economic stability at risk with Project 2025 proposals; Michigan skilled-trade workers urge next administration to invest in the industry.

Transcript

♪♪ -The Public News Service Daily Newscast, November the 4th, 2024.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Democrat Kamala Harris made her closing pitch for the U.S. presidency at a historically black church and to Arab-Americans in Battle Crom, Michigan, on Sunday.

At the same time, GOP candidate Donald Trump embraced violent rhetoric at a rally in Pennsylvania.

That from Reuters, they report overall voters view both candidates unfavorably according to Reuters' Ipsos polling, but that has not dissuaded them from casting ballots.

More than 77 million Americans have already done so ahead of the election day tomorrow.

That's according to the University of Florida's election lab.

Reuters notes control of Congress is also up for grabs on Tuesday.

Meantime, poll results indicate Iowa's rural voters say the economy, jobs, and inflation top the list of critical issues for them in the election tomorrow.

Nearly 400,000 Iowans have already cast ballots, and the rural vote could help determine the outcome of the presidential election in Iowa.

Rural Democracy Initiative's Sarah Janes says rural voters want elected leaders to make lowering costs and increasing wages for working people a priority, not reducing taxes for wealthy people or deregulating corporations.

They're very focused on working people as kind of the heroes of the economy and concerns that impact working-class people.

Rural people and small-town folks are more likely to be working-class.

About 70 percent of rural folks are working-class.

The Rural Democracy Initiative poll also found nearly eight in 10 rural voters say they're against banning abortion, similar to numbers in March.

I'm Mark Moran.

And ahead of election day 2024, a nonprofit is raising concerns that Project 2025 and its proposed rollback of federal aid could disrupt economic growth in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley.

Pennsylvania is set to receive more than $15 billion in bipartisan infrastructure law funding for over 450 projects.

David Kiva of the Environmental Defense Fund Action says the Inflation Reduction Act has made Pennsylvania cleaner and greener and is boosting the Lehigh Valley economy.

They're incentivizing and attracting private sector investment to communities like the Lehigh Valley, where Mack Trucks has received $208 million in IRA funding, which is gonna create nearly 300 union jobs.

The bipartisan infrastructure law has allocated $11.1 billion for transportation, including roads, bridges, public transit, ports and airports, and $859 million for water infrastructure.

Kiva points out many people would feel the impact of Project 2025, including over 200,000 in Lehigh's Valley Hispanic community.

For Public News Service, I'm Danielle Smith.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.

This is Public News Service.

Next to Michigan as they prepare for tomorrow's big elections, gold trade and union workers are calling for continued federal support to keep their industry strong.

Many are hoping the next administration will prioritize funding, similar to the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which fueled repairs and upgrades to roads, water systems and the power grid.

In Detroit, Felicia Wiseman of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers says the Infrastructure Act and the CHIPS Act also created pathways for new talent through apprenticeship programs.

The work that's coming down the pipeline, we need people to do it.

So it's making them open up doors so that people can get into these apprenticeships.

There's a lot of programs that are out there that are kind of prepping people because they don't know about how to get into the different steel trades.

Michigan will receive more than $11 billion from the Infrastructure Act by 2026, funding major skilled trade jobs and projects in transportation, water and energy.

Crystal Blair reporting.

And millions of Texans stood in long lines to cast their ballots during early voting.

In addition to picking the next president, Texans are voting in the hotly contested Senate race between Senator Ted Cruz and Congressman Colin Allred.

Christina Sanders with Polytech Texas Engagement Fund says she feels issues such as women's reproductive rights, DEI bans and others are motivating Texans to let their voices be heard.

People are not happy with the direction of some of the things that people have fought for.

And it could be that people wanna see more of removal of books from classrooms, regardless of what it is.

I think that the same motivations exist.

If you didn't vote early, she says the law requires that you be given an hour off work to cast your ballot.

I'm Freda Ross reporting.

Finally from our Eric Tegethoff, a project that could bring a refinery to an estuary along the Columbia River is getting pushback now from the public.

Next Renewable Fuels is proposing a diesel refinery in Clasgany, Oregon, with a capacity of up to 50,000 barrels a day of fuel.

The Texas-based company says the fuel comes from renewable sources, such as organic waste materials.

However, Dan Sears with Columbia Riverkeeper says the energy source is not as clean as the company claims and would in fact be a major source of pollution for the river and nearby homes and farms.

What they heard from the community during public comment was a sharp rebuke and they heard tough questions that they failed to answer.

And that's why DEQ needs to move forward and deny this project.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality was accepting public comments on water quality permits for the project.

This is Mike Clifford.

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