Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Wildfires force evacuation across the western US and Canada; As Ohio gas prices climb, local officials push for clean transportation; In Georgia folks weigh data center crackdowns; Can healthy Illinois farms help to bring back rain? Perhaps.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, August 10, 2026.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Keeping watch.

That's the status for folks in the U.S. and Canada, where firefighters are fighting almost 100 large wildfires.

The AP reports in western Canada over 20,000 people were forced to flee communities in British Columbia over the weekend as a fast-moving wildfire destroyed homes and dozens had to be rescued by aircraft.

And back here in the U.S., crews in Washington state that have been fighting three wildfires that began burning in the Spokane area for over a week continue to clean up near containment sites.

Meantime, gas prices are hovering around $4 a gallon in Ohio, and families are already feeling squeezed.

Arnana Ramagon lets us know local officials in Toledo are calling for continued federal and state investment in clean energy and transportation to ease the financial burden on communities.

Toledo City Councilman Nick Kameaves says access to more fuel-efficient cars, along with hybrid and electric vehicles, will benefit households in the long run.

He adds that for generations, the City of Toledo has been a leader in manufacturing and says residents have seen what happens when investments disappear.

That's why rolling back clean vehicle standards and eliminating incentives for electric vehicles is the wrong move at the wrong time.

Recent research on clean vehicles, specifically battery electric vehicles, shows they reduce lifetime greenhouse gas emissions by between 40 to 73 percent compared to gas cars.

A national movement called Freedom to Drive has launched in Ohio and other states highlighting how clean cars, hybrids, and EVs save money, increase jobs, and reduce air pollution.

Next up, data centers are multiplying across the state of Georgia, from metro Atlanta to rural counties, as the state becomes a top destination for the energy-intensive facilities.

Georgia's rapid rise as a top destination for data centers is not welcome news for many local officials, and they are finding ways to push back.

Atlanta City Council member Kelsey Bond recently introduced legislation to create a task force studying data center impacts on water, energy, and public health.

Bond says local governments are figuring out how to fight back. just because there's so many quickly moving parts.

And I think a lot of legislators haven't been able to take the time and sit down to fully understand what data centers are, how they work, or how they impact our communities.

Georgia is now the nation's sixth largest data center hub, with 230 facilities across the state.

At least 24 Georgia cities and counties have adopted data center moratoriums, though a state-level moratorium bill stalled in the General Assembly.

Atlanta already requires special use permits for data centers with rules addressing water consumption, energy use, and tree impacts.

I'm Tramiel Gomes.

This is Public News Service.

Next to Illinois, where a new venture is highlighting how healthy farmland can help to address climate change and restore local rainfall.

The Nature Cools Project, led by the Climate Land Leaders Initiative, is studying how healthy soils, trees, and diverse plant life work together to strengthen local water cycles.

Katie Ross, a scientist with the undertaking, says regenerating land brings back diversity both above and below the ground.

Then, living landscapes can release natural particles that help clouds form and bring rain back to the places where water first evaporated.

In addition to carbon sequestration, restoring that local rain cycle includes several powerful processes, which is nature's way of cooling the climate.

Research shows that by 2050, Illinois is projected to have at least 26 more days above 95 degrees and more frequent and rapid onset droughts.

I'm Judith Ruiz Branch reporting.

And new data from Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families show more than a quarter million Arizona kids have lost health insurance since the beginning of 2025.

Researchers point to a mix of factors, including issues with Medicaid enrollment outreach, the fear of immigration enforcement, and the loss of enhanced ACA tax credits.

They also point to the Trump administration's budget bill, which contains pending changes to Medicaid eligibility that could cause many families to lose the only insurance they have.

The center's executive director, Joan Alker, says uninsured children can mean catastrophic medical debt.

If they fall on the playground, break an arm, very common, have an asthma attack, which gets worse because they can't access prescription drugs.

They wind up in the emergency room.

They miss school.

The Georgetown numbers show nearly 14% fewer kids have health insurance coverage under Medicaid now than at the beginning of 2025.

I'm Mark Moran.

Finally, humanitarian workers and civilians in Ukraine are increasingly being targeted by drone strikes in the war with Russia.

According to a report from the International NGO Safety Organization, attacks on civilian targets have steadily increased since last year.

Hakeem Kleiman with Nonviolent Peace Force is stationed in Ukraine and says now that drones are more accessible, more people are at risk.

They're targeting old men and women walking to get pensions.

They are targeting persons with disabilities who are walking towards evacuation collection points.

And it's extremely clear that these are civilians that are engaging, and yet they're still prioritizing civilian targets.

Kleinman says the Russian drone operators are intentionally targeting emergency vehicles used by local and international humanitarian groups.

I'm Freda Ross reporting.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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