News from around the nation.

Hurricane Melissa nears Jamaica as 'Catastrophic' storm; Report: Child poverty rising in MD following federal cuts; WA county demonstrates success of science-backed youth justice; WV residents seek answers on permit for data center power plant.

Transcript

The Public News Service Monday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Hurricane Melissa churning near Jamaica this morning, hours after it rapidly intensified into a powerful Category 5 storm packing 160 mile per hour winds.

That's from the New York Times.

They report the hurricane is expected to move over or near Jamaica this week, as early as tonight, before moving toward Cuba and the Bahamas.

It is forecast to bring as much as 30 inches of rain to parts of Jamaica even more in some areas over the next few days.

Meantime, child poverty is on the rise in Maryland and across the country after the expiration of the temporary child tax credits, that's according to a new report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

It finds child poverty dropped drastically in 2021 to just 5 percent of children, assisted by pandemic relief checks and expanded child tax credits.

But as those benefits expired in 2024, the number of children in poverty stood at 13 percent.

Nate Golden with the Maryland Child Alliance says getting money in the hands of families with children is an impactful strategy against child poverty.

Cash benefits are certainly a way to reduce child poverty.

And I think certainly the simplest option politically, they worked.

For a time we cut child poverty in half at a time where the economy was frozen in a standstill.

That's how powerful that these monthly cash benefits can be.

Without key government assistance policies like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Social Security, the report estimates a quarter of all children in the US would be below the poverty line.

I'm Zimone Perez.

And in the past 25 years, Washington's Pierce County has successfully transformed its juvenile justice system away from detention and more towards strategies backed by neuroscience.

By focusing on keeping young people connected to their communities during court proceedings, the county has achieved an 88 percent reduction in youth detention.

According to County Probation Program Manager, Kevin Williams, a key factor was a 2004 juvenile detention alternative initiative grant, which increased engagement from youth and families and led to fewer violations.

We've seen a stronger relationship between young people, how they view themselves, how they think the community views them.

All these things are increasing in a healthier way.

And what we're trying to really get down to is addressing root causes and build young people up.

I'm Isabel Charlay.

Next, citizen groups are continuing their efforts to uncover hidden information in an air pollution permit for a proposed Ridgeline facility in Tucker County, West Virginia.

Nikki Forrester with Tucker United says, the state's Department of Environmental Protection has kept too much of the project secret.

We believe that the facility is wrongfully classified as a minor source of emissions when it should be a major source, given the size of the plant and the expectation that it would have to run 24/7/5 to power all of these data centers.

A Virginia-based company, Fundamental Data LLC, proposing to build a large gas-fired power plant and data center in the region.

This is public news service.

The Trump administration is aiming to ease the financial strain of in vitro fertilization by reducing the price of common fertility drugs, expanding IVF insurance coverage, and working with the FDA to approve new drugs.

In Indiana, couples can expect to pay $12,000 to $15,000 for a prescribed seven-step IVF cycle and insurance may not cover the entire cost.

President Donald Trump first took action on the issue in February, announcing the development of policy recommendations to make IVF more affordable.

Stephanie Jones with State Strong says Trump's actions fall short and he changed course from what he promised on the campaign trail.

It was announced that he was going to make IVF free and accessible for all.

Either the federal government was going to be paying for it or your insurance company was going to be paying for it.

What we found out is very far cry from that.

In a recent White House speech, Trump called the IVF drug deal, quote, a historic victory for American women, mothers and families.

I'm Terri Dee reporting.

And the Arizona Department of Transportation is launching the second phase of a plan to install 34 EV charging stations along state highways.

It's part of a plan to grow that number to at least 74 eventually.

The first phase of ADOT's plan installed charging stations along Arizona's busiest interstates, including I-10, I-19, I-8 and I-40.

Now, the state's accepting bids to install new facilities along highways in more remote parts of the state.

Arizona PIRG Education Fund Executive Director Diane Brown says the expansion will reduce what's known as range anxiety, which she says is among the biggest obstacles to EV ownership. the concern of being able to get to where they need to be able to go and have adequate charging.

I'm Mark Moran.

Finally, as schools in Missouri and around the country scale back electives due to budget cuts, some education advocates say extracurricular programs can help fill the gap, particularly in fields like science, technology, engineering and math, otherwise known as STEM.

In Missouri, the current budget strain includes an estimated $84 million in delayed federal funding for education, which affects teacher support and student technology initiatives.

Ed Kim with Code Ninjas, a private after-school STEM and coding program, warns that the U.S. education system risks falling behind if it doesn't keep pace.

The pace at which technology keeps innovating and improving keeps increasing, right?

Gets quicker and quicker.

Data from Kids Count Missouri show the state has lost grounding and researchers warn that students in rural and low-income communities face the greatest barriers when enrichment programs aren't available.

Crystal Blair reporting.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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