News from around the nation.

Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar's home searched as part of an ongoing immigration investigation, groups say better price transparency for electric vehicle fleets could cushion the blow of high diesel costs, and a report examines the technology challenges plaguing rural hospitals.

Transcript

The Public News Service Daily Newscast PM Update, October 12, 2026.

I'm Mary Sherman.

Federal agents searched the Washington home of Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar before dawn as part of an ongoing investigation.

The search comes amid growing tensions between the Trump administration and Omar, an outspoken critic of the immigration crackdown in her state.

Meanwhile, the president is facing growing pressure from members of his own party to abandon plants to import Russian diesel fuel to help stabilize global energy markets.

With the average national price of diesel at $6.19 a gallon, environmental groups in Massachusetts are urging state leaders to adopt California's approach to expanding its fleet of commercial electric trucks to help reduce pollution and avoid diesel price volatility.

More from Catherine Carley.

Electric trucks are expensive and often have no sticker price or available public transaction data for smaller companies to utilize when making their purchases.

Guillermo Ortiz with the Natural Resources Defense Council says a new California law requires truck manufacturers to disclose that data as a condition of receiving state rebates.

States have a financial incentive to make sure that they're promoting vehicles that save fleets money, protect public health, and at the same time protect our planet.

The transportation sector emits the most greenhouse gases, and state officials have set a goal of reducing them by 34 percent by 2030.

As North Dakota voters prepare to decide whether to guarantee free school meals for all public school students, research from a neighboring state offers a look at the potential benefits and challenges.

A recent report from the Food Group shows K-12 students that participate in Minnesota schools have benefited from one free breakfast and lunch per day since 2023.

The organization, Sophia Linares-Coy, says the policy move has increased student participation, reduced stigma, and helped ease program administration.

With grocery prices as high as they are and gas prices as high as they are, that savings is really important.

Rural hospitals are struggling to keep up with the growing demands of electronic health records, according to a study from the University of Nebraska College of Medicine.

The analysis found that 64 percent of rural hospitals had adopted electronic record keeping compared with 74 percent of urban hospitals.

Experts say the technology can improve patient care, but managing data can put more pressure on smaller hospitals already dealing with staff shortages and tight budgets.

Angela Clubb, a senior manager with health and technology consulting firm Nordic, says it only adds to a massive workload.

We have this ongoing burden that is put upon our rural communities.

They're trying to figure out how to manage their costs, how to manage their resources, and it becomes very overwhelming.

Officials at Cherry County Hospital in Valentine say staff often have to submit the same information to multiple state and federal agencies, each requiring a different format.

The story was produced with original reporting from Liz Carey for the Daily Yonder.

Crystal Blair reporting.

This is Public News Service.

Food security groups are calling for harsher consequences for the country's top egg producers for price gouging the cost of eggs.

As Isabel Charlay reports, a Department of Justice investigation found CalMain, the largest steak producer in the U.S., and others allegedly worked together to artificially increase prices in 2023 while blaming the increase on the bird flu.

CalMain's profits increased tenfold to over a billion dollars in a year in 2022 during the first major wave of bird flu.

Sarah Cardin with Farm Action says the company is settling with the DOJ instead of going to court, But the settlement is not nearly high enough to protect consumers from future misdeeds.

The financial penalties are just not severe enough.

The fine is about 0.23 percent of the profits they made in one year.

So instead of being disincentivizing, it's really more of like a cost of doing business.

Cardin explains while the DOJ and the plaintiffs have agreed to the terms of the settlement, a federal court still has to approve them.

The November election is 22 days away, and as Texas voters go to the polls, they're most concerned about reducing health care costs, electricity bills and homeowners insurance.

A recent poll by the nonpartisan Texas 2036 also shows many Texans have concerns about the direction the state is going.

Social worker Samantha Lott says she started delivering groceries just to make ends meet, and she's encouraging everyone to vote.

Our power to vote does mean something.

If it didn't, they wouldn't be closing polling places.

No matter what side of the aisle you're on, this is a really important election.

About half of those polled say they're not affiliated with the political party and will split their ballot in November.

And now to South Dakota, where two issues are on the November ballot that have already been voted on in the past.

Laura Hatch explains.

Both initiatives are proposed constitutional amendments the state legislature added to the ballot.

Amendment I would repeal expanded Medicaid coverage if federal funding drops below 90 percent.

Chase Jensen with Dakota Rural Action says if it passes and federal funding is cut, more than 30,000 South Dakotans could lose their insurance.

South Dakotans have pretty clearly spoken that this is not an area where they're willing to let their neighbors not have access to basic health care.

Jensen says in addition to people losing coverage, rural hospitals and clinics couldn't keep operating without that funding.

In 2022, South Dakota voters approved a constitutional amendment to expand Medicaid eligibility to people making up to 138 percent of the poverty level.

Supporters of the proposed amendment say it would let South Dakota voters and legislators decide whether Medicaid expansion is worth the cost if federal funding drops.

I'm Mary Sherman for Public News Service, member and listener supported.

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