News from around the nation.

Canada strikes back at the Trump Administration with a new round of retaliatory tariffs; global conflicts and aging pipelines keep people in Massachusetts cooking with gas, and Iowa's high cancer rate is expected to be a hinge point in the U.S. Senate race.

Transcript

The Public News Service Tuesday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Canadian retaliatory tariffs are now in effect today.

After U.S.-Canada trade talks collapsed last month, CNBC notes duties range from 15 to 50 percent across hundreds of U.S. products worth a total of $27.6 billion.

That includes dairy, agricultural equipment, paper, household appliances, and electronics.

Canadian tariffs on U.S. steel, aluminum, and iron products doubled to 50%.

Canada called the move a dollar-for-dollar response to U.S. levies on its own goods.

Meantime, American energy bills are forecast to keep climbing this winter, especially in Massachusetts, where half of households rely on natural gas as their primary source for cooking and heat.

The state has some of the oldest gas pipelines in the country, which often need repairs, and utilities pass that cost under ratepayers through surcharges each month.

Michelle Solomon with the nonpartisan think tank Energy Innovation says unlike other states, Massachusetts needs expensive imports of liquefied natural gas to power the coldest days when energy demand peaks.

This is going to likely be especially impactful this winter because of the war in Iran and the impact that it's had on global liquefied natural gas prices.

Natural gas producers say they're helping to diversify America's energy portfolio and contribute to a more reliable electrical grid.

I'm Catherine Carley.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory says offshore wind power on the eastern seaboard, especially in southern Massachusetts, could power most homes along the Atlantic coast.

Next up, Iowa's cancer rate is taking center stage in its race for the U.S. Senate.

Democratic Representative Josh Turek is facing one of his counterparts, three-term Republican Representative Ashley Hinson, and the race is tightening as both candidates address pesticides and nitrates in Iowa's water.

Iowa scientists have been studying whether those toxic chemicals are carcinogenic, though agriculture corporations insist there's no evidence proving they are.

Laura Bellin is a political reporter for Bleeding Heartland.

Everyone is talking about water quality and cancer.

Cancer is even an issue now in the attorney general race.

There's more of an awareness that Iowa has the second highest cancer rate overall and that We're the only state where the cancer rate is rising and trying to figure out what to do about that.

I'm Mark Moran.

And Outreach Voices in North Carolina are worried that recently passed federal and state laws restricting access to health insurance for immigrants of all documentation levels.

Dr. Vivian Martinez-Bianchi with Duke University says these moves create additional health coverage barriers.

See that the impact will extend beyond the individuals who lose coverage.

When you are in a mixed-status family, fear and confusion will discourage eligible children and other eligible relatives from applying.

A measure passed by the North Carolina General Assembly requires the State Department of Health and Human Services to report anyone who lacks a satisfactory immigration status to ICE.

This is Public News Service.

A record number of women are running for office in 2026, with more than 700 women candidates on the ballot for Congress and governor nationwide.

The surge in representation, however, comes against a backdrop of heightened attacks.

The Center for American Women and Politics reports 36 woman-versus-woman congressional races this year alone.

In Florida, where women are on the ballot in races from Congress to governor, State Representative Angie Nixon, a Democrat running for U.S.

Senate, says she's been told to tone down her passion to be seen as viable.

I feel the pressure every day.

Someone the other day told me that I need to smile more and I need to have my family around me more because people think of black women as aggressive.

In August, right-wing activist Laura Loomer called multiple black women in public life, including Nixon, ghetto, entitled race-obsessed and destructive.

The comments were condemned by lawmakers across the political spectrum.

I'm Tramiel Gomes.

And Alaska's trawling fisheries are taking center stage in this year's race for the U.S. Senate.

Fishermen use trawlers to catch pollock and crab, but they also collect bycatch, things they aren't necessarily fishing for.

Linda Bankin, executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen's Association, says trawling damages the ecosystem by destroying corals, sponges, and sea whips, which form important fish habitat.

And certainly there's a lot of concern right now about bycatch of salmon, giving the state of some of the salmon runs bycatch of crab, because we've had some real crashes in crab stocks.

The issue has gotten the attention of the candidates seeking Alaska's seat in the U.S. Senate.

Republican Representative Dan Sullivan introduced legislation earlier this year to limit bycatch.

Mary Peltola, the Democrat running against Sullivan, has also said she will address the bycatch issue if she's elected.

I'm Mark Moran.

Collaboration credit goes to Anna Gustafson with the Alaska Independent.

Finally, September is Hunger Action Month, and Oregon leaders are strategizing how to keep Oregon families fed in the face of dramatic cuts to SNAP and other federal food programs.

Some 70,000 Oregonians have lost their SNAP benefits since the largest cuts in history were made to the program last year.

Andrea Williams, president of Oregon Food Bank, says this has led to an over 50 percent increase in visits to food banks in the last two years.

She adds that the need is now outpacing the supply.

These are seniors on fixed incomes, working families with young kids, all having to stretch their household incomes as cost of food, rent, gas has just continued to skyrocket.

The Trump administration says cuts to SNAP and other food programs are necessary to root out fraud and protect taxpayers.

I'm Isobel Charle.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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