News from around the nation.

Unionized Kentucky AT&T workers continue to strike amid safety concerns; RFK Jr. plans to drop out of 2024 presidential race and endorse Trump; Ranked-choice voting in the spotlight after vote-splitting in WA primary; MN cement mason bootcamp pays off for Tribal youths.

Transcript

The public news service Daily Newscast, August 22nd, 2022.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Unionized AT&T workers in Kentucky are continuing their strike against the company over bargaining delays.

The strike continues over what CWA's Beth Allen says are the company's unfair labor practices, adding that AT&T hasn't sent negotiators to the table who have authority to make decisions.

And so without people at the table who can make decisions, we can't move forward toward a new contract that is fair to the workers and provides what they need.

Last week, more than 17,000 AT&T technicians, customer service representatives and others who install, maintain and support the company's residential and business wireline telecommunications network walked off the job.

In a statement, AT&T said it remains committed to reaching a fair agreement with CWA District 3 and has offered to bring a federal mediator to the process.

Nadia Ramligan reporting.

The current contract between the CWA and AT&T Southeast expired August the 3rd.

Next from NBC News, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. intends to end his independent presidential campaign and endorse former President Donald Trump.

That's according to two sources familiar with the plans.

The sources cautioned talks are still ongoing, but said there will be clarity by the end of this week.

One of the sources said the campaigns are working toward a joint appearance.

NBC notes the decision to drop out will end the most prominent third party candidacy in the race.

Kennedy announced Wednesday that he will give a campaign speech addressing the path forward.

That was days after his running mate said the campaign faced a choice about staying in the election or dropping out to back Trump.

Meantime, a close primary race in Washington state is highlighting the issue of vote splitting and how ranked choice voting could provide a solution.

Our Eric Tegethorf explains.

The Commissioner of Public Lands race is still too close to call more than two weeks after the election and could be heading for a recount.

It's a top two primary, meaning the two highest vote getters will go on to the general election.

Tony Ivey with Washington Conservation Action says that's created an odd situation where the majority of Washingtonians voted for Democratic candidates, but two Republicans could face off in November.

We became very concerned about the potential of vote splitting and while Washington voters heavily support climate friendly candidates and heavily support climate action, we end up with a situation where despite the majority of voters selecting a climate friendly candidate, two non-climate friendly candidates could end up in the general election.

Ivey says this could have been avoided by using a choice voting system that would have let voters rank the candidates who aligned with their views.

Ranked choice voting is catching on across the country, including in Washington, where Seattle will implement this system in city primary elections.

According to Fair Vote Washington, not every city or county in the state can do this.

The organization has been pushing the legislature to pass a local options bill.

This is public news service.

The next time you drive over a newly built highway in Minnesota, the concrete may have been poured by a Native American trained through a pre-apprenticeship program.

The effort is designed to create more career pathways for younger indigenous adults.

Over the past several years, Moke Eagle Feathers of the local 633 cement masons has helped lead the 10 week training camp in New Brighton with this year's session recently wrapping up.

Prior to the summer, he goes to Native American reservations around the state to recruit participants.

Those who sign up get a rigorous education of what it's like to do this type of work.

We're teaching a skill that a robot would never be able to learn.

He says the no nonsense vibes illustrate how demanding cement mason work is, especially in the many types of weather Minnesota throws at outdoor workers.

If they graduate, participants are on track for in demand, financially stable union jobs.

That's welcome news to these individuals with the Bureau of Labor Statistics noting that Native Americans often have higher unemployment rates than the total population.

I'm Mike Moen.

And as we approach the general election, the battleground state of Pennsylvania, where every vote counts, is seeing a push for more voter education and engagement.

More than eight million registered voters have the opportunity to cast a ballot for the November 5th election.

Brianna Ripka with the League of Women Voters Pennsylvania says the league's website vote411.org is a one stop shop for all aspects of the voting process.

She says voters can check their registration status and see the specific races on their ballot along with candidate information.

By entering your address, you can discover your districts, view the candidates running in those districts, find your polling location, as well as access a wealth of other important information.

Along with seeing the races and candidates on your ballot, you can view candidates responses to our questions presented side by side.

Ripka says voter participation is particularly important since the decisions will ultimately affect issues from health care to education.

The league platform now provides detailed guidance on how to request, fill out and submit mail-in ballots, including updated deadlines and rules that vary by state.

Next, wildfires are becoming bigger and more frequent in Colorado and across the Mountain West and health experts are offering tips to breathe easy during bad air quality days.

Denver Health pulmonary physician Dr. Anuj Mehta says pregnant women, infants, children, older adults and people with heart or lung disease are most at risk.

Wildfire smoke has a lot of particulate matter, so really, really small, like microscopic particles that can cause inflammation in the lungs.

Just breathing in that particulate matter, that inflammation may not just stay in your lungs.

It can really cause inflammation around your body.

I'm Eric Galatas.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

Member and listener supported.

Hear us on interesting radio stations, your favorite podcast platform.

Find our content and trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.