Six minutes of news from around the nation.

CEO Sooting Suspect Luigi Mangione Charged with 5 crimes in PA; College costs still a major hurdle for TN students; East TX program connects residents to Franklin Fire in Malibu explodes to 2,600 acres; some homes destroyed; Colorado health care costs rose 139 percent between 2013-2022; NY, U.S. to see big impacts of Trump's proposed budget cuts; Worker-owned cannabis coops in RI aim for economic justices., frees up 911; Pathways developed to reduce dementia risk in CO.

Transcript

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, December the 11th, 2024.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Firefighters continued to battle the Santa Ana wind-driven Franklin Fire in Malibu on Tuesday, and officials said suppression efforts are far from over.

That's from KTLA Channel 5.

They report crews with the Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to the blaze, which was first reported near Malibu Canyon Road and Station Boundary.

As of midday Tuesday, the fire had been mapped at more than 2,600 acres with no containment, the cause still under investigation.

KTLA reports L.A. County Fire Department Chief Anthony Marone stated a minimal number of homes had been lost.

And Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in a midtown Manhattan attack last week, has signaled he will fight being extradited to New York to face murder charges.

That's from Al Jazeera.

Meantime, between 2013 and 2022, health care spending in Colorado surged by 139 percent to nearly $30 billion.

That's according to a new analysis by the Center for Improving Value in Health Care.

Carrie Frank with the Center says in addition to rising private health insurance premiums paid by Coloradans and their employers, people are also paying more out-of-pocket.

Out-of-pocket costs for the most recent year of data in 2022 was roughly a little bit over $1,000 out-of-pocket per person per year for people with commercial insurance.

And that has risen over 45 percent since 2012.

Between 2013 and 2022, the amount of medicine prescribed to patients increased by 10 percent, but drug costs rose by 151 percent.

I'm Eric Galatas.

Next to New York, a state that could see major impacts from President-elect Donald Trump's proposed budget cuts.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramsey's Department of Government Efficiency is set to slice $2 trillion in federal spending.

While their focus is cutting agency budgets in the government's workforce, safety nets will be in their crosshairs.

Joan Alker with the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families says states will have flexibilities if cuts occur, but they'll make using services harder.

In practice, these flexibilities will mean things like cutting back eligibility, adding red tape so that it's harder for families and people to get through the process, which cuts down on enrollment, and we know that from the unwinding that we've just been through.

She adds benefits could be limited and providers who see a lot of low-wage working families might face reimbursement cuts.

There has been consideration to cut Medicaid's expansion match rate to a regular rate.

This would move most costs to states.

Estimates show New York's cost for expansion group under a reduced federal match rate could be more than $5 billion if this occurs.

I'm Edwin J. Vieira.

In 2022, 53 percent of SNAP participants in New York were families with children, and close to 3 million people statewide rely on the program.

Nationwide, SNAP has helped more than 3 million people out of poverty.

This is public news service.

Next to Rhode Island, where worker-owned cannabis cooperatives are striving to help those impacted by the war on drugs.

State law mandates at least six retail cannabis licenses be awarded to these co-ops, which give members a say in business operations as well as a share of profits.

Organizer Emma Carnes with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 328 says the greatest challenge is gaining access to capital.

The entrepreneurs in this project are by and large people without access to wealthy networks, and they're up against very, very deep-pocketed corporate players, so the competition is really fierce and the resources are really slim.

Carnes says her union is working with other community-based groups to recruit co-op members and equip them with the resources they need.

With sales of $100 million this year, Rhode Island has the nation's smallest cannabis market.

I'm Catherine Carley.

And the effects of climate change are making the fire season in Oregon and other western states burn hotter and longer, urgently requiring additional funding and firefighters.

Oregon fire officials say the state lost 1.9 million acres during the 2024 fire season, an area larger than Delaware.

Patrick Scripp, who manages the Rural Douglas Forest Protective Association, says the fires they fight today are very different from the ones they saw 20 years ago.

Our fire seasons are longer.

The weather patterns have changed to where we, what used to be one in a 10-year event, we'd hit 100 degrees.

We hit 100 degrees in our district multiple times in a year.

Scripp says fighting Oregon wildfires in 2024 lost over $300 million.

Task Force is scheduled to deliver a new funding plan to the state legislature in February.

I'm Mark Richardson.

Fire season runs from June through October, and in 2024, the Oregon Department of Forestry recorded 1,003 incidents, stressing both the state's manpower and resources.

This story was produced with original reporting from Julia Tilton for the Daily Yonder.

And finally, Indianapolis is expanding its innovative clinician-led community response program, offering Hoosiers a new approach to handling mental health crises.

The program is a collaboration between the city's Office of Public Health and Safety and Stepping Stones Therapy Center.

It pairs licensed behavioral health professionals with 911 dispatch to address nonviolent emergencies without police involvement.

Stepping Stones' Andrea Brown says it meets people where they are.

Meeting people in the community with accessible mental health services is monumental for the city of Indianapolis.

The city reports success in the downtown and East IMPD districts, where the program recently expanded to 24/7 operations.

Critics of similar programs argue law enforcement should remain involved in all emergency situations.

I'm Joe Ulori, Public News Service.

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

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