Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Trump slams Zelensky for refusing to recognize Russian control of Crimea; TN educators warn against dismantling U.S. Dept. of Education; NJ improves school-based mental health policies; ND follows up with new aid to keep rural grocery stores open.

Transcript

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, April 24, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

President Donald Trump slammed Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky Wednesday for his comments that Ukraine wouldn't recognize Russian control of Crimea.

Trump called the remarks "very harmful" to the peace negotiations with Russia.

That from CNN.

The report in a social media post Trump wrote, "It's inflammatory statements like Zelensky's that makes it so difficult to settle this war.

He has nothing to boast about.

The situation for Ukraine is dire.

He can have peace or he can fight for another three years before losing the whole country."

Next to Tennessee, where educators are expressing concerns over Donald Trump's push to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education and return control to the states.

We get more from our Danielle Smith.

Tennessee Department of Education serves over one million students in 147 districts.

Tanya Coates with the Tennessee Education Association says states already oversee most aspects of public education.

She says the plan risks key student services and could lead to defunding and privatizing public schools, resulting in larger class sizes, less individual attention and fewer resources for students with disabilities.

Since there's only less than 30 days for most schools in the state of Tennessee to be in service, that it would cut our after school programs come the next year, and particularly our summer programs that augment this in-school learning and skill building.

She says educators could lose access to programs that help low-income students and those with disabilities go to college.

Governor Bill Lee supports keeping education control in Tennessee's hands.

In his State of the State address, he announced an additional $580 million for public education, including more funding for the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement formula and another teacher pay raise.

And a new report finds that states like New Jersey have made progress in providing school mental health services to its students, but work still remains.

The report by Inseparable, a national mental health advocacy organization, measures states based on 13 policy targets.

New Jersey is one of only four states to implement required mental health screenings in six or more grades.

But the state had not implemented or only partially implemented five policies, such as excused absences for mental health or school telehealth programs.

Kaitlin Hochul with Inseparable says early mental health screenings are critical to student success.

When you catch a condition early and you get treatment that you need early, you have better outcomes, you're more likely to be more engaged in school and have academic success and perform better in the workforce later on.

We really emphasize providing annual screenings to students.

The Garden State also mandates mental health literacy in the classroom, requiring life skill competencies and mental health literacy education.

That includes suicide prevention and substance use disorders.

I'm Simone Perez.

This is Public News Service.

North Dakota's governor this week signed a bill that maintains state funding for rural communities in dire need of thriving grocery stores.

The state launched a specialized grant program in 2023 that set aside $1 million for smaller communities to share if their local grocery store was in danger of closing its doors.

For example, one small community used its share to match funds for the purchase and reopening of a local convenience store, which added groceries and a restaurant.

Ellen Huber of the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives spoke in support of the new bill that extends these grant opportunities.

Without action, our rural communities are becoming increasingly reliant on distant markets for basic needs and are paying the transportation and fuel costs.

Huber told lawmakers that since 2014, North Dakota has lost 47 rural grocery stores, leaving only 90 operating around the state.

I'm Mike Moen.

And as the city of Milwaukee continues to grapple with addressing unsafe levels of lead across public schools, experts are calling it an environmental justice issue.

At least three Milwaukee schools have closed and about a handful of students were exposed to unsafe levels of lead.

As city officials continue to investigate, they're forced to do so without federal support that usually assists in crises like these.

Tony Wilkin-Gibbart with Midwest Environmental Advocates says Milwaukee was already facing a lead poisoning crisis from other sources and finding hazardous levels in schools can easily overwhelm city departments that are working with limited resources.

Milwaukee has the highest rates of childhood lead poisoning of any community in the state.

That problem is primarily driven by the fact that inner city Milwaukee has been historically subject to redlining, housing discrimination and disinvestment.

Gibbart says inner city kids may be going from homes that have lead hazards to schools that have lead hazards.

I'm Judith Ruiz Branch reporting.

Finally, a key energy bill aimed at attracting new power generation projects to Indiana is on its way to Governor Mike Braun after being approved by House Republicans.

We get the details from our Joe Ulori.

The bill speeds up approvals for large power users like data centers.

It lets utilities recover costs for projects that serve those customers.

It also requires major grid additions to cover at least 80 percent of project costs, shielding other ratepayers from extra expenses.

The plan from Republican State Representative Ed Saladay of Valparaiso increases oversight of utilities that want to shut down or convert coal-fired plants.

He said Indiana must incentivize businesses to get them here.

If we are able to incentivize them to come here, we get 80 percent of something, not 100 percent of nothing.

This story was produced with original reporting from Casey Smith for Indiana Capitol Chronicle.

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

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