News from around the nation.

Oil prices climb as the Houthis threaten more attacks on Saudi oil facilities, Washington lawmakers warn a millionaires tax repeal risks budget cuts and higher taxes, and experts call for stronger laws as AI complicates online scam detection in U.S.

Transcript

The Public News Service Wednesday Afternoon Update.

I'm Joe Ulori

Oil prices are climbing after another attack on Saudi Arabia's energy infrastructure.

Houthi rebels struck Saudi Armco's headquarters, raising new concerns about global oil supplies.

Armco says operations continue, but escalating tensions could put additional upward pressure on U.S. gasoline prices.

Traders are watching closely for any further attacks on Saudi oil facilities or shipping routes.

Some Washington families and small business owners could lose new tax breaks if voters repeal the millionaire's tax in November.

Initiative 645 will appear on ballots this November 3rd, asking voters if they'd like to repeal the tax.

Middle-class tax cuts provided by the policy include relief for nearly half a million households through the expanded Working Families Tax Credit.

Senator June Robinson says repealing the millionaire's tax would create an incredible hole in the state budget.

The bill that we passed was very carefully crafted to ensure that part of the revenue that would come in would be able to support reducing B&O tax for small businesses, removing sales tax from personal hygiene items.

A representative from Let's Go Washington, the group behind the campaign to repeal the tax, said in an email that families and small businesses deserve cuts and assistance, but did not propose an alternative funding source.

I'm Isobel Charle.

A new Tennessee coalition is bringing nonprofits, faith groups, and the United Way together to address homelessness.

More than 8,800 people were counted as unhoused statewide in 2025.

Chris Dial with the Canopy Initiative says the goal is to bring more groups to the table.

The Canopy Initiative is really made up of a core group of our direct service providers, and then we're trying to bring other partners and other representatives into that space to expand the ownership of the issue and also involve all of the community.

The point-in-time count means homelessness on a single night.

President Donald Trump campaigned in Clarksville over the weekend but did not address homelessness.

A new coalition is protecting New Yorkers from online scams.

Our Edwin J. Viera reports.

The United to Stop Online Scams campaign is educating people about detecting online fraud, though artificial intelligence is making it harder for people to determine which online ads are real.

Kate Kleiner, a widow and scam survivor from Pennsylvania, serves as a national spokesperson for the coalition.

She's inspired to speak up after losing money in a romance scam, which began with a stranger's online friend request.

By the end, I had sent him $39,000, the last of my husband's life insurance.

It was devastating.

Data show these scams have cost New York families close to $9 billion.

The scam targeting Kleinert involved a real-life perpetrator, but she worries about older adults falling for online scams where AI is a key component, like a phone call from a voice sounding like the victim's grandchild claiming to need money.

This is Public News Service.

Members of the American Federation of Teachers are participating in the political process by helping voters in the upcoming midterm elections.

Our Freda Ross has details.

Volunteers are being recruited to be democracy defenders in Texas and across the country.

Samantha Vogel is a middle school social studies teacher in San Antonio.

She says volunteers will work in their communities to ensure voters have the information they need leading up to and on Election Day.

Support and protect ways that they can cast their ballots and ensure that every ballot is counted.

One of the things we're encouraging people throughout our community to do is to vote early.

It's harder to contest early votes.

AFT members interested in participating should contact their local leaders to sign up.

The teachers union is partnering with the AFL-CIO for the initiative.

The organizations hope to assist 2 million voters during this election cycle.

Iowa's dirty water is taking center stage in this year's Secretary of Agriculture race. incumbent Mike Neg, who relies on the support of ag interest, is working to convince voters that he will clean up the water.

Challenger Chris Jones is campaigning almost entirely on science and calling on farmers to take a more natural approach to growing crops and livestock.

Chris Jones spent nearly a decade as a research engineer monitoring the state's rivers and streams, which is what prompted him to run for office.

You know, Iowa farming is all about controlling nature.

That's when we make it look neat and tidy.

Colorado voters will decide if state revenues should be earmarked to respond to some of the biggest impacts of climate change.

Colorado's croplands, forests, and watersheds are much drier after this past winter's record-setting low snowpack and decades-long drought.

Wildfire season is now year-round.

Nearly 300,000 acres have gone up in smoke in 2026.

On voters will get to decide if a portion of existing sales taxes should be dedicated to address these growing threats.

Curtis Hubbard, spokesperson for the Yes on Prop 137 campaign, says the measure would invest $175 million per year to prevent catastrophic wildfires and protect and conserve Colorado's land and water.

That will make it safer and easier for firefighters to do their jobs, and importantly, it helps secure the clean water that our families, farmers, and ranchers depend on.

The money would come from taxes already collected when people buy sporting goods and outdoor equipment.

Critics of Prop 137 warn that taxpayers will end up on the hook.

A Common Sense Institute report projects that, depending on your income, tax refunds under Colorado's Taxpayers' Bill of Rights would drop by $26 for individuals and by as much as $166 for joint filers.

I'm Eric Galatia.

This is Joe Ulori for Public News Service, member and listener supported.

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