Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Pentagon to scale back joint military exercises, advocates: Upstate New York rental assistance program must be permanent and New England drought conditions deplete wells, increase wildfire risk.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service Daily Newscast for Monday, August 17, 2026.

I'm Joe Ulori.

President Trump is ordering the Pentagon to sharply scale back joint military exercises with South Korea after Seoul decided to join U.S. efforts to denuclearize Iran.

Trump also called the drills costly and unnecessarily hostile toward North Korea, which he says has been respectful during his presidency.

The 11-day exercises involving about 18,000 South Korean troops were set to begin this week and are designed to prepare for potential threats from North Korea.

The Trump administration is scaling back federal childhood vaccine recommendations, a move health experts warn could put more children at risk.

President Trump cut the recommended list from 18 vaccines to 11, removing hepatitis A and B, RSV, and bacterial meningitis, among others.

Jenna Riemenschneider with Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America says the changes aren't based in science.

This executive order just continues to sow confusion and uncertainty in vaccine safety at a time where it's absolutely critical that we improve childhood vaccination rate.

The administration says the changes give parents more control and bring U.S. policy closer to other industrialized countries.

New York housing advocates want to make a temporary rent relief program permanent.

It helps renters outside New York City catch up when they fall behind.

And advocates want to expand eligibility to more working families.

Juan Diaz with the Children's Defense Fund of New York says one financial emergency can quickly put a household in trouble.

That will make this program a law, but also expand eligibility, not just to families on the federal public level, but also working families.

We learned under COVID-19 that we are all an emergency away from being in rental arrears.

The proposal stalled in a state senate committee.

While supporters want a permanent program, the bill itself does not lock in a federal level, leaving future spending subject to what lawmakers approve in the state budget.

Commercial and recreational salmon fishing on the lower Columbia River could be changed forever after the Bonneville Power Administration decided to pull funding for its low-standing hatchery program.

The Select Area Fisheries Enhancement, or SAFE program, created to mitigate the harmful impacts of dams on the river and fisheries will be defunded at the end of September.

James Adkins with the Association of Northwest Steelheaders says the funding loss could mean the end of some recreational fishing seasons, including coho season, which starts right now.

In August, which is typically when the, quote, buoy 10 season kicks off, that season may just go away.

You may still be able to harvest fall chinook, but coho would just disappear altogether.

In a statement, the Bonneville Power Administration says it is canceling the SAFE program because it only augments the fish harvest and has not helped threatened wild salmon and other species recover.

I'm Isobel Charle.

This is Public News Service.

Millions of student loan borrowers are facing changes to the federal repayment system, and some are seeing much bigger monthly bills.

Pennsylvania middle school counselor Jessica Newell says she had been paying $90 a month under an income-driven repayment plan that is being phased out.

She says her new payment is nearly five times higher.

I work in Title I, and when I came back online after they litigated for two years and didn't allow us to pay, now my payments are $440 a month.

Four times what I was paying.

The changes stem from President Trump's tax and spending law, which restructures federal student loan repayment options.

A student debt crisis center survey found 67 percent of borrowers questions say they can't afford their new monthly payments.

Nearly nine million Americans are currently in default on their student loans or about one in five borrowers.

The survey suggests higher payments and confusion over the new rules could push more borrowers into default.

Scientists warn that cities and towns throughout the Northeast need to reassess their groundwater reserves because of the region's persistent drought.

Our Catherine Carley reports.

While recent rains have brought some relief to southern New England, conditions have worsened in states like New Hampshire and Maine, where warmer than normal temperatures have increased the rate of evaporation.

Farshid Vahedifard, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Tufts University, says wells connected to near-surface aquifers are drying up.

We need to shift from reactive to proactive drought management across the region.

We need to better prepare our communities.

More than 2 million people, or roughly 20 percent of the region's population, rely on well water.

Vahedifard says that as climate change makes it harder for aquifers to recharge, states need to plan for drought resilience. including water conservation and shared backup supplies.

Pro golfers will once again descend on South Dakota in September, and you've got a chance to step up and take a swing.

The Sanford International PGA Champions Tournament is returning to Sioux Falls for the eighth year, from September 11th to 13th.

This is the fourth year that AARP South Dakota is a sponsor.

State Director Eric Gajkowski says the event combines healthy living, community engagement, and volunteerism. some of the organization's biggest priorities.

The reality is it gets people out and moving, and that's really what we're looking for.

The more that we can encourage people to actively age, it's better for everybody.

AARP South Dakota will have a viewing deck for tournament attendees at the 9th Green, along with prize giveaways and information about AARP resources.

Gajkowski says there is a $5 discount on tickets with the code ACTIVEAGING2026 through the Sanford International website.

I'm Laura Hatch reporting.

This is Joe Ulori for Public News Service, member and listener supported.

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