News from around the nation.

Trump remembers Kirk as a martyr while attacking political opponents; TX lawmakers say abortion medications aren't safe after 25 years; As literacy rates decline, MA looks to revamp reading instruction; Reduced fine for NC farmworker's death raises accountability questions.

Transcript

The Public News Service Monday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

President Trump remembered Charlie Kirk as a martyr in remarks at the Conservative Activist Memorial in Arizona Sunday, but he pivoted swiftly to blunt politics by saying he hated his political opponents and that they cheated like dogs.

That from the New York Times.

Trump said he disagreed with Charlie Kirk's view of wanting the best for one's opponent.

"I hate my opponent," Trump said, "and I don't want the best for them."

The Times notes just minutes before, Erica Kirk publicly forgave the man who killed her husband.

"I forgive him because it is what Christ did," she said.

"The answer to hate is not hate."

Meantime, the abortion pill at the center of the most recent abortion ban in Texas has been on the market for 25 years.

Our Frida Ross reports medical professionals feel Mifepristone is under threat.

And many Texans are using telehealth appointments to get the medication.

Backers of House Bill 7 say the medications are poisonous and illegal and contend that people don't know how to use them safely.

But Dr. Angel Foster with the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project says the medications are mailed to patients only after they've consulted with their medical professionals.

And within days, the standard combination of mifepristone and misoprostol, along with additional information on how to take the pills, what to expect, and when to seek follow-up care is in the mail en route to the patient's home.

I'm Freda Ross reporting.

And introduced legislation in Massachusetts aims to revamp statewide literacy instruction, but some educators say schools need more funding and staff to help students succeed.

Vice President of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, Deb McCarthy says the approach lacks the flexibility teachers need to help all students.

You shouldn't be standardizing the instruction.

It just removes local control, it removes the expertise and knowledge.

If passed, school districts would be required to use science-backed reading curriculum based on phonics and report implementation data back to the state.

And our Eric Tegethoff lets us know during National Farm Safety and Health Week, a massively reduced fine for poor conditions that led to a farm worker's death is leading to questions about worker protections in North Carolina.

30-year-old seasonal farm worker, Jose Arturo Gonzalez Mendoza, died on the job at the Barnes Farming and Farm Pack in 2023 during extreme heat.

The North Carolina Department of Labor conditions on the farm were harmful to workers.

The Barnes Farming Corporation was initially fined more than $187,000 in 2024.

However, the fine was reduced in a settlement this year to $3,750.

Yesenia Cuello is head of the grassroots organization NC Field.

This action sends such a huge message to essential people and that's that their lives are worthless and that they are disposable.

Barnes Farming, which claims to be the world's largest sweet potato producer, denies wrongdoing in the case and has agreed with the state to update its emergency plans.

This is Public News Service.

Regulators in Minnesota are weighing feedback on a potential policy change tied to natural gas infrastructure.

The state could phase out gas line extension allowances where current repairs cover the cost of connecting new development to these systems.

The Public Utilities Commission just ramped up a public common period as it considers the future of this decades old policy.

When new housing or a commercial building goes up, service pipelines are needed.

New properties often aren't charged for those connections with the cost spread out among existing customers.

Clean Heat Minnesota's Natalie Cook says with non gas options like heat pumps now part of the mix, the allowances are outdated.

So new customers could still get gas service.

They will need to just pay for directly to connect to the gas system and we think that's fair.

And if natural gas expansion slows, the coalition warns future rate increases to fund new connections will disproportionately impact renters and low-income households.

Industry groups opposed to eliminating them say doing so would create difficulties for new customers.

I'm Mike Moen.

And environmental groups are calling for greater regulation of tiny plastic pellets.

They're accumulating in New England's waterways and elsewhere.

The pellets, which are melted down and shaped into water bottles, bags, and other items are often spilled during manufacturing or transport.

Lisa Frank with the advocacy organization Environment America says eventually these lentil-sized plastics find their way to the oceans where they threaten both wildlife and public health.

They look just like fish eggs, which for lots of critters is a nutritious and delicious snack, but instead they wind up getting a belly full of plastic.

Research shows plastic pollution also fuels climate change.

Darker pellets absorb more sunlight, and when mixed with snow and ice, they can lead to quicker snow melt.

I'm Catherine Carley.

Finally, a group of clean water advocates in Iowa has filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to back down on changes designed to ensure water safety in the state.

The Biden administration proposed a rule that would have imposed phosphorus emission limits on 126 meat industry plants across the U.S., including in Iowa.

Phosphorus is the number one polluter of the nation's waterways.

Now, the Trump administration has rescinded the proposed rules.

Food and Water Watch staff attorney, Danny Replogle, argues that the EPA is more concerned about profits than safe drinking water for Iowans.

It was very clear from the record before EPA that this rule made sense, that there are slaughterhouses across the country that are already implementing the technologies that are going to achieve better water quality and that the entire industry should be held to that standard.

The lawsuit was filed in the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

I'm Mark Moran.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service, member and listener supported.

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