News from around the nation.

As Baltimore City sees record heat this summer, local efforts ramp up to combat the 'urban heat island' effect; Donald Trump's Jan. 6 charges are renewed despite SCOTUS immunity ruling; Minnesota's new free tuition program resets path for tribal students; What an extra $15,000 a year means for a rural Kentucky grocery.

Transcript

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, August the 28th, 2024.

I'm Mike Clifford.

First to Baltimore City, where they're seeing record heat this summer, and local efforts to combat what's called the urban heat island effect are ongoing.

Where urbanization spreads asphalt and concrete for miles, daytime temperatures can be up to seven degrees higher than outlying areas.

This heat island effect is being addressed in Baltimore City.

Sustainability Director, Ava Richardson, says the best approach is through nature-based solutions, and there are a number of stakeholders involved already.

There's a lot of areas across the city that lack that green infrastructure, or lack those cooling amenities, if you will.

So we are working with different universities, including the Baltimore Social Environmental Collaborative, to better understand some of the dynamics around the microclimates that you'll see, because there can be a significant variation in temperature from block to block.

Green infrastructure can include things such as tree planters replacing portions of sidewalk, rooftop gardens, forest patches, and compost applications to existing plantings.

Brett Pivito reporting.

Next, from Mother Jones, Special Counsel Jack Smith filed a new indictment of Donald Trump Tuesday that leaves in place the same criminal charges, even as it narrows the underlying allegations in response to the Supreme Court's widely-decried decision declaring President's official actions are immune for prosecution.

Trump is still charged with conspiring to defraud the United States, conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, obstructing an official proceeding, and with conspiring to deprive people of their civil rights.

Mother Jones notes the new 36-page indictment drops the section that detailed Trump's efforts to pressure the Justice Department to support his false claims of election fraud.

It also no longer cites an unnamed official, easily identified as Jeffrey Klorik, a former Trump loyalist in the Justice Department.

And with the support of a federal grant, one grocery store in Eastern Kentucky is the first in the state to install a solar array and battery system to save on peak demand energy charges.

Several thousand customers a week walk through the doors at Long's Pick Pack, says store owner Mike Long, whose father started the business in 1964.

He says utility costs for operating a grocery store can run as much as $78,000 a year.

A Rural Energy for America program, or REAP, grant from the USDA funded 40 percent of the project's costs.

Long says the extra money shaved off energy bills will go back into the business and community.

We buy the equipment, we get more employees, we get bonuses, we redid our floor, and we're getting ready to pay the parking lot.

Long says he learned about the REAP program through the Mountain Association and has used previous grants to upgrade to more energy efficient refrigerators and freezers.

Nadia Ramligan reporting.

According to federal data, 76 counties nationwide no longer have a single grocery store.

This is public news service.

Indigenous populations have long faced barriers in pursuing higher education.

Minnesota's new free college tuition program could help pull some of these dreams within reach.

This fall, the state launched its North Star Promise initiative, where households earning below $80,000 a year qualify for free tuition at state colleges and universities.

Experts say limited scholarships are one of the many obstacles Native Americans encounter in the world of higher education.

White Earth Tribal and Community College President Anna Shepard doesn't sense the new program will lead to a big enrollment boost, but for students receiving the aid, it could take their college journey to greater heights.

What I really appreciate is that they're not gonna have to graduate having debt, and so maybe they're gonna pursue a master's or doctoral, so then they don't have to worry about that.

She says juggling student loans and other college debt often limits indigenous populations from obtaining advanced degrees.

I'm Mike Moen.

And Iowa's dwindling population has forced a third of rural hospitals to close their labor and delivery units.

We get the details in this KFF Health News, Iowa News Service collaboration.

Reporting from KFF Health News shows that at least 41 Iowa hospitals have closed their labor and delivery units since 2000, down dramatically from the 1950s and '60s when the state was trying to keep up with the baby boom.

University of Iowa obstetrics and gynecology professor, Dr.

Stephanie Radke says, "Iowa used to have at least one labor and delivery unit in each of its 99 counties, but many have closed as the population has dropped and common themes have emerged."

Those being just simply that there aren't as many people giving birth in the community, so there's not a demand for the service, as well as financial challenges that still relate to the volume, but low reimbursement rates and overall low revenue coming in through a labor and delivery unit.

Radke says maintaining staff in rural areas and the urbanization of the population have also created challenges.

I'm Mark Moran.

Finally, from our Catherine Corley, critics of the conservative plan to expand offshore oil drilling say it endangers coastal communities.

Project 2025, written by the Right-Leaning Heritage Foundation, aims to dramatically reshape U.S. energy policy, opening millions of acres to new oil and gas production.

Angelo Villa-Gomez with the Center for American Progress says it prioritizes short-term profits over long-term climate sustainability.

It's going to prohibit the United States from even including the word climate change in any of our government documents.

You can't deal with these real threats just by closing your eyes and pretending that it's not.

Former President Donald Trump has claimed he has no knowledge of Project 2025, even though many parts of his plan were written by members of his former administration.

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

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