News from around the nation.

President Trump is expected to give Chinese President Xi Jinping a special welcome when he arrives in Washington, opponents of federal legislation to fast-track permits for large-scale finfish farms in the open ocean are highlighting a temporary reprieve, and new research reveals health insurance rates are rising amid persistent unaffordability.

Transcript

The Public News Service Wednesday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

President Donald Trump is now expected to give Chinese President Xi Jinping a rare greeting when he arrives in Washington on Wednesday for his first state visit in more than a decade.

Trump is expected to be on the tarmac to welcome Xi's plane instead of waiting for him to drive up to the White House.

CNBC notes in the background for the meeting, while the trade deficit with China last year briefly reached its lowest point since 2017.

Surging demand for AI-related parts have helped set it higher again.

Meantime, opponents of federal legislation to fast-track permits for large-scale finfish farms in the open ocean are highlighting a temporary reprieve.

The Marine Aquaculture Research for America, or MARA Act, would boost domestic seafood production by cutting regulations for industrial aquaculture in federal waters.

Despite the vote delay, Bill sponsors hope future talks will give it new life.

Andreana Natsoulis with the North American Marine Alliance says the measure blue washes or understates the potential economic harm it would cause to Maine fisheries and beyond.

We're ready to work with members of Congress to support coastal communities, seafood communities that are actually embedded in the community, in the local economy, and who care about the marine ecosystems.

Some of the largest companies tied to land-based factory farms like Cargill and Merck support the bill, which would boost demand for animal feed mixed with fish meal.

I'm Katherine Carley.

And Connecticut health insurance rates are rising again.

The state insurance department approved the 2027 rate hikes of around 11 percent for individual plans, 15 percent for small groups.

Though these are lower than insurers requested, it is still unaffordable for Connecticut residents.

A new Connecticut Citizen Action Group report finds health care companies are becoming more profitable by denying their customers affordable coverage.

Liz DuPont-Deal, who works with CCAG, says consolidation of the health care system also raises costs.

They're buying up and controlling other elements of the health care system to the degree that you can hardly get health care without having it be touched by these corporations, which are perverting both the price and the availability of health care.

State lawmakers can take action to make health care affordable for everyone.

DuPont Deals says that could include transparency around the cost of health care by having contracts between hospitals and health insurance companies be subject to review by the state.

I'm Edwin J. Viera.

And after being found guilty of federal conspiracy charges for protesting ICE, communities and civil rights groups continue to rally behind the Spokane 3 as they wait their next hearing.

Liz Moore, the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane, was there the day of the protest.

We can't ignore the potential chilling effects of these prosecutions, and our commitment to each other is stronger than fear.

People's fortitude is really showing right now in Spokane and across the country.

The three Washingtonians filed motions to overturn their May convictions, arguing the evidence was not enough to prove a conspiracy to harm or impede federal officers.

This is Public News Service.

A growing number of communities in Indiana are pulling the plug on automated license plate readers.

Our Joe Lurie reports Fort Wayne, Chesterton, and several Indiana counties have recently moved and defunded or expired their flock safety program.

The company provides public institutions with surveillance tools powered by artificial intelligence.

Walker Lasberry is president of Eyes Off Indiana, which advocates for tighter regulation of flock cameras.

People are starting to talk about the issue more.

It's being brought to more city councils.

The legislature has an appetite for regulation, so it seems like everyone's starting to take notice of this issue, and they're starting to bring the issue to their local elected representatives.

Police say the cameras can provide real-time vehicle information that speeds up investigations and helps officers find suspects and missing people.

But opponents worry about how information is collected, stored, and shared.

Recent opposition has crossed traditional political lines with groups ranging from the ACLU to Americans for Prosperity raising concerns.

This story was produced with original reporting from Carson Gerber for FPI News.

Next up, fraud experts are hosting events in North Dakota this month to help veterans and military families spot scams.

Roughly 80 percent of veterans and military personnel are targeted by scammers and about 40 percent lose money.

That's according to AARP.

Juanita Jimenez Soto with the North Dakota office says fraudsters are after their hard-earned benefits.

She says the latest scam includes postcards or mailers that appear to be from Veterans Affairs or other government agencies.

Scammers are exploiting trust and the complexity of military and VA benefits and repeated contact through channels that look familiar and official to our veterans and military families.

AARP is hosting lunch and learn events on September 29th and 30th in Grand Forks in Minot.

Jimenez Soto says attendance is free, but registration is required.

I'm Judith Ruiz-Branch reporting.

Finally, rising rents and the lack of affordable housing units are putting more of Colorado's lowest paid workers at risk of entering the cycle of homelessness, according to key indicators released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

The annual out-of-reach report calculates each state's housing wage, the hourly pay workers need to rent a fair market rate apartment without spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing.

Kathy Alderman with the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless says that wage is now $36.44 an hour in the centennial state.

What that means is that people still would have to work about two and a half full-time jobs at minimum wage in order to afford a modest two-bedroom home in Colorado.

Colorado's 2026 minimum wage of $15.16 is 82 percent higher than it was a decade ago, but it hasn't been able to keep up with rising housing costs.

I'm Eric Galatas.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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