Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Trump officials deny U.S. citizen children were 'deported' to Honduras; Arkansas League of Women Voters sues over ballot initiative restriction; Florida PTA fights charter school expansion, cuts to mental health funding; U. of Northern Iowa launches international student exchange.

Transcript

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The Public News Service daily newscast April the 28th, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Tom Homan, President Trump's border czar, insisted Sunday that the administration did not deport American kids to Honduras, arguing the White House sent the children to the country because their mothers, who were being deported, wished to bring them.

That from The Washington Post.

They report early Friday, three U.S. citizen children from two families were removed from the U.S. with their mothers by ICE.

One of them is a 4-year-old with stage 4 cancer who was sent without medication or the ability to contact doctors, a lawyer for the child's family said.

Next to Arkansas, where the Secretary of State there, Cole Jester, is facing legal action from the League of Women Voters, Arkansas.

The organization has filed a federal lawsuit over five bills it says are unconstitutional and restrict the work of canvassers.

The League's Kristen Foster says the ballot initiative process allows citizens to propose statutes or constitutional amendments and collect signatures to place the proposals on a ballot.

She adds recent bills passed by lawmakers take away those rights.

They have put so many restrictions on, and they are so layered and complex that the ability to just get a petition out in the field and let people sign it is nearly impossible.

In a written statement, Jester claims the petition system is filled with fraud and bad actors, but according to the Heritage Foundation, there have been only five criminal convictions related to election fraud in Arkansas over the last 20 years.

I'm Freda Ross reporting.

The complaint also notes voters rejected proposed election restrictions in 2020 and again in 2022.

Next to Florida, where the Parent Teacher Association president-elect is leading a charge against two controversial education bills that would reshape the state's school system, even as Republican lawmakers tout the measure as expanding parental choice.

The legislative battle comes in what is supposed to be the session's final week, with high stakes for public school funding and governance.

His organization opposes House Bill 123, which would permit municipal charter schools to bypass local district oversight, arguing it creates unequal standards for taxpayer-funded institutions.

We are not against charter schools, but we are against mechanism and rules that would circumvent the governance of our local public schools and our communities.

The bill's companion, SB 140, which passed the Senate 30-7 last week, would allow traditional public schools to convert to charter schools with approval from 50 percent of parents while explicitly excluding teachers and staff from the voting process.

I'm Tramell Gomes.

This is Public News Service.

Next to Iowa, where despite pushback from the Trump administration on colleges and universities recruiting foreign students, the University of Northern Iowa is part of a new exchange program.

UNI is partnering with a university in Thailand to allow students to earn international business degrees.

It's called the 2+2 Business Degree Partnership Program.

Students from Assumption University in Thailand can take two years of classes at home and finish their international business degree at UNI's Wilson College of Business in Cedar Falls.

UNI Global Opportunities Coordinator Chris Schrage says the opportunities run the gamut.

Accounting, finance, management, marketing, supply chain - all of our majors align with their majors.

Schrage says the 2+2 program is largely self-funded by students and private donors, which should allow UNI to sidestep the controversy over international students in the U.S.

I'm Mark Moran.

And low-wage workers in Pennsylvania haven't seen a minimum wage increase in over a decade.

A new bill with bipartisan support would change that.

More now from our Daniel Smith.

The Raise the Wage Act of 2025, introduced in both chambers of Congress on April 8th, aims to gradually raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $17 per hour by 2030.

Andrea Grove, the owner of Elementary Coffee in Harrisburg, says the change would lead to bigger paychecks and boost the economy.

There has been a lot of movement, a lot of momentum, a lot of bills presented to hopefully get the minimum wage increased, even just incrementally.

And I would really love to see this actually go through this time.

An analysis by the Economic Policy Institute finds that increasing the federal minimum wage to $17 per hour by 2030 would affect 1 million workers in Pennsylvania and more than 22 million workers nationwide.

And finally, both water quantity and quality are important in the dry climate of Nevada.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin says he wants to reduce protections granted under the Clean Water Act in an effort to undo unfair burdens on farmers and landowners.

The 1972 federal law aims to maintain and restore the nation's waters.

Natasha Majeski with the Nevada Wildlife Federation says the waters covered by the act have changed over the years, but it's all an interconnected system.

Lincoln County doesn't have the same amount of resources as Clark County, and yet water is still flowing from that county into tributaries such as the Muddy River that goes into the Colorado River that will end up being drinking water.

In 2023, the Supreme Court narrowed the definition of waters of the United States.

It determined only wetlands that are physically connected to other federally recognized waters qualify for protection.

I'm Alex Gonzalez reporting.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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