News from around the nation.

Union workers cry foul over layoffs at immigration service centers. Special counsel urges appeals court to reinstate classified documents case against Trump; Fed grant supports Oregon tribal youth conservation training; Nevada lawmakers will consider changes to state elections process.

Transcript

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, August the 27th, 2024.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Unionized workers with the federal agency responsible for processing immigration and asylum paperwork claim they're being forced to turn over their jobs to non-union labor in violation of federal law.

United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America members say the U.S.

Citizenship and Immigration Services Nebraska Service Center is laying off union workers in Nebraska and other states and moving the jobs to non-union operations.

UE Local 808 President Dawn Meyer calls the companies move union busting.

What they are doing is they're taking good union jobs and they're outsourcing them to places that are paying less money, are less efficient, far less vigilant in accuracy.

They're risking people's ability to get immigration benefits.

The USCIS did not respond to a request for comment.

Mark Richardson reporting.

Meantime, Special Counsel Jack Smith urged the Federal Appeals Court Monday to reinstate the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump, saying a judge's decision that dismissed the prosecution was at odds with longstanding Justice Department practice and must be reversed.

That from the Associated Press.

They report that Smith's team said U.S. District Judge Eileen Cannon made a mistake that Smith was unlawfully appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland.

The AP notes that position, prosecutors say, runs counter to rulings by judges across the country, as well as widespread and longstanding appointment practices in the Department of Justice and across the government.

If allowed to stand, they warned it could jeopardize the longstanding operation of the Justice Department and call into question hundreds of appointments throughout the executive branch.

Next, from our Eric Tegethoff, Federal grant money is supporting an Oregon organization that rehabilitates the land and trains tribal youth.

The Interior Department's Indian Youth Service Corps has awarded the Loma Cotse Restoration Project $300,000.

The funds will support the organization's Tribal Youth Ecological Stewardship Training and Employment Program.

Head of the project, Marco Bay, says the Indian Youth Service Corps supports tribal young people age 18 to 30 and up to 35 if they are veterans.

What it's focused on is providing paid-to-train opportunities for tribal members to work on their ancestral lands or neighboring ancestral lands, engaged in ecosystem restoration or eco-culture restoration work.

The Loma Cotse Restoration Project has been around since 1995 and is based in Ashland.

Bay says the focus is on ecosystem resilience and reducing large wildfires that have become more prevalent and destructive in recent decades.

The organization works in Oregon and Northern California.

The goal for the Indian Youth Service Corps grant is to train 12 tribal youth from seven tribal communities.

This is public news service.

We head next to Nevada, where lawmakers will consider changes to the state's election laws next year.

Most proposals are minor, like adding small filing costs for primary presidential candidates and changing some regulations around voter signatures.

A more divisive bill would allow former felons to become election workers.

Douglas County Clerk-Treasurer Amy Bergens doesn't have a problem with that.

I know a lot of people that have a past that they're not necessarily proud of, but they have changed their life, and so I don't think we should hold it against them what they did.

This change could also bolster an elections workforce that has seen an exodus of people since 2020.

Staff say they're struggling with unsustainable workloads and increased harassment.

Bergens says adding full-time workers in clerks' offices and offering better salaries could also address this issue.

I'm Will Waukey.

The Nevada legislature kicks off in February.

Lawmakers will continue to propose and edit bills until then.

And in New York, SUNY Morrisville recently wrapped up its first classes as part of New York's offshore training wind institute.

The state-funded program is part of efforts to build up the clean energy workforce.

Along with training courses for wind technicians, the program offers hands-on lab and real-world experience for students.

Dr. Benjamin Ballard is a renewable energy professor at SUNY's Morrisville and says the goal of the offshore wind training institute is building capacity.

So building capacity means developing training specifically for wind technicians, but also developing a pipeline of students coming from K-12 institutions.

And so the training that we proposed in our offering starts with career exploration at the K-12 level, offering some microcredentials.

He says these microcredential courses provide a good introduction to renewables.

Other courses include electrical theory for renewable energy systems, tower climbing safety, and how wind systems work.

Ballard says the school is pursuing workforce development funding to make this a more economically available long-term program.

This can help students afford the school's tuition and transportation costs.

I'm Edwin J. Vieira.

And finally, Akron, once known as the jazz corridor of the Midwest, continues to honor its deep-rooted jazz culture with events including the upcoming Rubber City Jazz and Blues Festival on September the 5th.

The Ohio City, which played host to legends like Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald, remains a vibrant hub for jazz enthusiasts and musicians alike.

Theron Brown is a professor of jazz studies at the University of Akron and co-chairs its jazz ensemble program.

He says the festival is in its ninth year and showcases the significance of the city's jazz scene.

It's very community-driven.

The musicians that are here, they care about the scene and they're active in other ways than even just the music.

Akron's central location made it a hub for mid-20th century musicians.

Farah Siddiqui reporting.

This story was produced with original reporting from Rose Vance Grom for Arts Midwest.

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

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