News from around the nation.

Alaska flooding leaves one dead and two missing; Government shutdown hits two-week mark; NV education advocates speak out against SNAP cuts; Report: Debt buyers leave Virginians at risk of wage garnishment; Study: Fruit flies reveal dangers of a sedentary lifestyle.

Transcript

The Public News Service Tuesday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

One person died and two are missing in Western Alaska after a remnants of Typhoon Halong flooded remote communities, Alaska State Troopers said Monday, confirming the first death in the state from the powerful storm.

That from the New York Times.

And from CNN, the Senate returns to Capitol Hill today to assess the House-passed government funding proposal as the shutdown hits the two-week mark with no indication there has been any progress to end the stalemate.

House Speaker Mike Johnson warned yesterday, "The nation is barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history."

Meantime, Nevada educators are sounding the alarm about cuts to the supplemental nutrition assistance program known as SNAP.

President Donald Trump signed the Republican funding bill on July 4th that cut food assistance by $186 billion over the next decade.

Alexander Marks with the Nevada State Education Association, a statewide teachers union, says an estimated 130,000 Nevadans could lose food benefits.

"Cutting SNAP means more students arriving at school without breakfast or lunch.

That's going to lead to lower concentration, poor test scores, higher absenteeism."

Conservative supporters of the bill say the SNAP cuts target waste, fraud and abuse and are necessary to fund other administration priorities, including tax cuts and increased immigration enforcement.

I'm Suzanne Potter.

And private companies are buying the consumer debt of Virginians at a fraction of the loan amount and then suing them to try to recover it.

A new analysis finds these lawsuits frequently go unchallenged.

The Virginia Poverty Law Center with assistance from the Pew Charitable Trust found debt buyers filed 86,000 lawsuits in the Commonwealth last year.

More than half of the cases involved total debts of less than $2,000.

Jay Spear with the Virginia Poverty Law Center says these companies purchase unpaid medical and credit card debt but there is often no proof of the debt being owed as many times companies only receive a name, address, and dollar amount from the original creditor.

And most people are pretty intimidated about going to court so they don't go.

They get a default judgment and then they can garnish your wages or take your bank account or something like that.

The report says creditors attempted to garnish wages or bank accounts in nearly 80,000 cases, but more than 80 percent of those garnishment attempts recovered no money.

I'm Zimone Perez.

And a new experiment from Wayne State University School of Medicine has revealed that being sedentary for long periods can lead to weaker muscles, slower movement and even shorter lifespans and that's not just in people but also in fruit flies.

Lead researcher Allison Zukowski, assistant professor of pharmacology at Wayne State, says fruit flies share genetic similarities with humans so her team ethically placed them in small spaces that limited their movement.

So we were kind of actually trying to model maybe sort of like bed rest you know maybe able to move about the room a little bit but not get any kind of killer exercise.

Statistics show the average American spends more than nine hours a day sitting.

Just standing up, stretching, or taking a short walk every hour can keep your muscles strong and your heart healthier.

This is public news service.

In just three weeks many New Mexico voters will choose local leaders and the state's largest LGBTQ advocacy group has made endorsements in a handful of races.

Equality New Mexico's Nathan Saavedra says the state has made a great deal of progress in recent years to expand protections for LGBTQ people, especially for the transgender community.

To continue that momentum, he says the advocacy group endorses candidates with similar positions regarding civil rights.

It's also being able to recognize and hold the values that LGBTQ people are also part of every marginalized group.

And so this is particularly true for our unhoused populations across New Mexico and especially in big cities like Las Cruces and Albuquerque.

LGBTQ people, especially youths, are overrepresented in the nation's homeless population.

I'm Roz Brown.

And more than 150,000 folks in Colorado with both Medicare and Medicaid coverage who need additional help can enroll in Medicare Advantage plan known as D-SNAP, up for the 2026 calendar year starting this week.

Marion Cabanillas with UnitedHealthcare says D-SNAPs can help people maintain good health by removing socioeconomic barriers.

Some qualifying enrollees can use the plan to buy healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables, meats and seafood.

You may be able to get vision coverage, hearing coverage and dental care.

The other things that these dual-set plans may offer are rides to doctor's visits, so you may be able to get transportation to help you get to the doctor's appointment.

Medicare Advantage plans offered by private health insurance companies have been criticized for deceptive marketing practices.

And last year, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued standards for TV and other ads.

According to an analysis by KFF, Advantage plans are more than twice as profitable than both the individual and group markets.

Last year, Advantage plans cost taxpayers $83 billion more than traditional Medicare, a single-payer government program.

I'm Eric Galatas.

Finally, researchers say Native Americans are still overlooked in many ways, including their economic strengths, but some business leaders are paying attention.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis this month observed the 10th anniversary of the Center for Indian Country Development.

An event featured a range of panelists.

One of the speakers was Dawson Hermany-Horses, an executive at Wells Fargo and enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe.

He says if big banks have more detailed information, they're likely to give tribal communities a stronger look.

We need that data to kind of show the people who aren't as familiar with us and who have capital.

Indian country is a great place to invest in.

He says there's a belief out there that bowers and tribal communities aren't reliable in repaying their loans.

But he notes data show lower default rates when native customers are served by community development financial institutions.

I'm Mike Moen.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

We are member and listener supported.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.