Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Suspect arrested in arson at Pennsylvania Governor's mansion; AZ universities thread needle to comply with Trump DEI order; National tally shows military arsenal among OH taxpayers' top expenses; Helicopter in Hudson River crash lacked flight recorders; Social Security cuts could impact one in six Coloradans.

Transcript

The Public News Service, Daily Newscast, April the 14th, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Pennsylvania state authorities have arrested a 38-year-old Harrisburg man and said he set fire to the Pennsylvania governor's mansion, forcing the governor, Josh Shapiro, and his family to evacuate early Sunday before the blaze severely damaged part of the building.

That's from New York Times.

They report the man identified as 38-year-old Cody Balmer jumped a fence and managed to evade state troopers as he broke into the building.

Authorities said he'd used a homemade incendiary device.

Balmer is in custody, expected to be charged with attempted murder, arson, and terrorism.

Law enforcement officials say they could not provide any information about a motive.

We head next to Arizona, where universities are figuring out how to comply with President Trump's order to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, otherwise known as DEI, to avoid federal funding cuts.

While some schools have canceled all gatherings for race-related student groups, others are choosing to call them celebrations or award ceremonies.

Brooklyn Clayton, with the Associated Students of Northern Arizona University, says her school has a reputation of being a liberal, diverse, and accepting institution.

She says student groups are a key part of that.

I've started going to NAU's Black Student Union this year, and I have found a lot of very good friends there because they understand what it's like to be Black in a predominantly white institution.

And they know the stress that it takes to navigate that.

The Trump administration believes there's legal precedent to cut race-related programs.

A letter sent by the Department of Education to universities says education institutions may neither separate or segregate students, nor distribute benefits or burdens based on race.

I'm Alex Gonzalez reporting.

And ahead of tax day, a national receipt shows where some of Ohio's tax dollars were spent in 2024.

War and weaponry remain top federal expenses, with the average tax filer paying more than $3,700 to maintain America's military arsenal.

Lindsay Koshgarian with the Institute for Policy Studies says that cost could increase for 2025 since President Donald Trump has said he wants a $1 trillion military budget.

We've been expecting to see it hit a trillion dollars sometime in the near future, but I don't think we were expecting it quite so soon as this.

She says the military budget decreased slightly after the 2008 recession, but has been noticeably increasing the past few years.

A $1 trillion military budget would be the largest on record.

I'm Catherine Carley.

And from NBC News, as crews continue to search for key parts of the helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River in New York, they won't find one piece of evidence that is usually critical to investigators.

The helicopter is not equipped with any flight recorders, no onboard video cameras.

Thursday's deadly accident claimed the lives of a family of five visiting from Spain and the pilot.

This is Public News Service.

The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, plans to cut 7,000 jobs in the U.S.

Social Security Administration as it works to reduce the size of the federal government by eliminating waste and fraud.

Nearly one in six Coloradans relies on Social Security payments, according to AARP.

Monique Morrissey with the Economic Policy Institute calls the planned cuts a form of sabotage and says Social Security is already very efficient.

Less than 1 percent of what they are paying out goes to administrative costs.

That's including not just the staffing, but the office space and everything else.

So almost all the money that's going out of Social Security is going directly into beneficiaries' pockets.

Morrissey says the agency is challenged by staffing, which has recently fallen to a 50-year low.

She says wait times for phone and in-person appointments have already skyrocketed and half of all callers now hang up before anyone answers.

I'm Eric Galatas.

And as Illinois forges ahead in the clean energy space, lawmakers and advocates are pushing for what would be the third major climate bill passed in less than a decade.

Supporters of the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act say it's crucial, as the state's power grid struggles to keep up with increased demand, mostly from large data centers.

Previous climate legislation helped launch energy equity and green jobs programs that have especially benefited smaller and rural communities.

Ethan Minnick with the Camp Grove Wind Farm has worked in the space since 2011.

He says more educational opportunities have also helped fuel the boom.

The technical training has certainly increased a lot.

It went from it was really just on-the-job training with some very specialized schooling for it to now a lot of companies even have their own training programs to train people.

Clean energy jobs have grown eight times faster than the state's overall economy, three times as many residents now work in clean energy-related fields than the number of lawyers, web developers and real estate agents combined.

I'm Judith Ruiz Branch reporting.

Finally, about one in four adults and one in five kids suffer from seasonal allergies in states like Virginia.

Experts have tips on how to treat them.

You may know the feeling, the runny nose, sneezing, coughing and itchy eyes that come with spring allergies.

Allergic reactions happen when you come into contact with an allergen that prompts the body to produce chemicals called histamines, creating the uncomfortable symptoms.

Dr. Gregory Carnevale with UnitedHealthcare says when you're allergic, your body responds much like it's being attacked.

It's when your body's immune system responds in a way that it really shouldn't.

It's a response that's potentially harmful to the body, but it's to an exposure that's really unharmful to that one individual.

I'm Simone Perez.

This is Mike Clifford.

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