Six minutes of news from around the nation.

A federal judge allows Trump’s mail-in ballots plan to proceed but some states are fighting back, new data contradicts claims that ICE is primarily targeting people who pose a public safety risk and the US food safety system under scrutiny after recent outbreaks.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, August 27, 2026.

I'm Mike Clifford.

First to Boston, where U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani agreed to lift an order prohibiting the U.S.

Postal Service from carrying out Trump's order for the November elections.

She wrote she was compelled to do so after the Supreme Court conservative majority ruled that a similar injunction she granted in a separate case was premature.

The AP notes at the same time a new lawsuit filed by about two dozen democratically controlled states.

It's against the U.S. Postal Service.

It came after the Supreme Court ruled against them in a separate case, but did not say Trump's order was legal.

Meantime, as the ice surge continues in Maine, new data from the Department of Homeland Security show, more people have been detained this year than in the last two years combined.

The vast majority, 98 percent of the more than 480 people arrested, have no criminal conviction.

Ruben Torres with the Maine Immigrants Rights Coalition says DHS no longer defines whether an arrest was targeted or simply part of a larger dragnet approach.

What the data doesn't capture is the tears that are shed by children when they don't know where their father is.

The wife who now has three jobs in order to meet the responsibilities that their husband was meeting.

Torres says ICE enforcement has now spread to at least 50 cities and towns.

DHS says it's targeting people who pose a public safety risk, but at least 60 people were detained during routine immigration check-ins at the Icefield office in Scarborough.

I'm Catherine Carley.

The DHS argues Maine falls within its zone of enforcement because the entire state is within 100 miles of the Canadian border.

Torres says the data show that in one of the nation's whitest states, people of color between the age of 25 and 54 with no criminal backgrounds are being targeted.

And young people who study science, technology, engineering, and math improve their problem-solving skills.

And a majority of New Mexico parents say their child's after-school program now offers these learning opportunities.

STEM education is available to nearly 44,000 students in after-school programs across the state.

Still, more than three in four children and youth whose parents want such programs aren't enrolled.

Maya Sagbatan with the New Mexico Out of School Time Network wants parents to know that access has notably improved in the past decade.

We are extremely excited about the fact that in this study, 94% of parents in New Mexico reported that their child has access to them compared to 36% in 2014.

The study is based on a survey of about 30,000 parents who have school-aged children, including 283 households in New Mexico.

I'm Roz Brown.

The After School Alliance says STEM learning opportunities away from the classroom allow students to explore more interest and apply skills to real-world problems through hands-on, team-based engagement.

This is Public News Service.

There's been a big increase in the number of people contracting foodborne illnesses in 2026, and many in Colorado are wondering whether it's safe to eat foods purchased at grocery stores or restaurants.

So far, 431 Coloradans have gotten sick after eating salmonella-tainted jalapeno peppers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Teresa Murray is the Consumer Watchdog Director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund.

She says Colorado trails only Minnesota in the total number of people getting sick from contaminated foods.

Colorado has been hit hard by the jalapeno peppers, either from restaurants or in salsas or in guacamole.

But even as recently as last weekend, more products were getting added.

Colorado is also one of 47 states, along with Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, to be impacted by seven cyclospora outbreaks since May.

I'm Eric Galatas.

And nurses and their allies are rallying for a fair contract today, following what the union calls devastating cuts to mental health and emergency services at Hillsborough Medical Center.

The closures coming in September will leave the state with only two remaining inpatient programs provide care to older adults experiencing mental health crises.

Cody Alexander is an ER nurse and a member of Oregon Nurses Association, which is in the middle of bargaining their latest contract.

He says the units that are closing are vital to the hospital's functioning.

We have one of the highest growing populations in the state of Oregon.

However, our management seems to be reducing the amount of resources.

We have a lot of staff who are very uncomfortable because they feel we're doing our community a disservice.

In a statement, hospital leaders said staffing shortages and low patient volume forced them to close the units.

I'm Isobel Charle.

Finally, as North Dakota lawmakers prepare to take up the issue of transparency surrounding data centers, a recent poll shows public opposition to the facilities is growing nationwide.

A new heat map news survey shows 75% of Americans somewhat or strongly oppose having a data center built in their community.

Retiree and Morton Grove resident Holly Birch is one of them.

While some landowners are willing to sell their property for these projects, she says data center developers often target retired or absentee landowners in areas where they think nobody will be paying attention.

There's a lot that seems to be done with non-disclosure agreements.

All of a sudden, someone's neighbor is getting this massive multi-million dollar check and you've got earthmovers coming in and tearing up the property across the road.

I know some families this is happening to right now.

Morton County is among several across the state with moratoriums on new data center applications and ordinances for future projects.

I'm Judith Ruiz Branch reporting.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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