Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Postal workers' union says new proposal would slow mail; Storms across US bring heavy snow, dangerous ice and a tornado in CA; Poll finds most voters want a robust EPA, more pollution controls; Parents of children in WA prisons face 'unbearable' holiday season.

Transcript

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, December the 16th, 2024.

I'm Mike Clifford.

A tornado near a mall in Central California swept off cars, uprooted trees, and sent several people to the hospital.

In San Francisco, authorities issued the first ever tornado warning.

That from NBC Bay Area.

They report that nasty weather plagued areas across the US and with dangerous conditions, including heavy snow in upstate New York, a major ice storm in the Midwest, and severe weather warnings around Lake Tahoe.

NBC reports the ice storm beginning Friday evening created treacherous driving conditions across Iowa and Eastern Nebraska, prompting temporary closures of Interstate 80 after numerous cars and trucks slid off the road in upstate New York.

Next up, the American Postal Workers Union is pushing back against proposed changes to the postal service that they say would slow delivery.

Among other things, the proposal aims to cancel afternoon deliveries and pickups for areas that are more than 50 miles from a regional hub.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy says elimination of night pickups could save the post office more than $3 billion a year.

Daniel Cortez with the Oregon Postal Workers Union says reducing services does not make sense financially.

To think that eliminating services, reducing standards, basically providing the American people with less reliable service is somehow going to make money, it's nonsense.

This is the most recent in a series of changes included in DeJoy's 10-year Delivering for America plan.

The union says DeJoy, who was appointed under President Donald Trump, has already raised prices for stamps while closing post offices across the country, especially in rural communities.

I'm Isabel Charlay.

And nationwide, 76 percent of Trump voters and 86 percent of all voters oppose attempts to weaken the Environmental Protection Agency that is, according to a new poll commissioned by the Environmental Protection Network.

Matt George with Seven Letters says the data show the vast majority of folks want legislation, such as the Clean Air Act, to remain in place and want strengthened regulations that curb pollution.

The majority of voters really do recognize the value of regulations that keep our air and water clean and keep us healthy, and they want to maintain those regulations.

The poll also found opposition to weakening the EPA is higher among Latino, suburban, and independent voters that shifted Republican in this year's presidential election.

Critics of a second Trump administration say the president-elect wants to dismantle the EPA by significantly cutting staff and funding, according to the League of Conservation Voters.

During his time in office, Zeldin repeatedly voted against clean water and clean air legislation.

Nadia Ramligan reporting.

Almost two-thirds of voters who supported Trump in the election expressed concern that his EPA pick would put the interests of corporations ahead of protecting things like clean water.

This is public news service.

It is no secret the holiday season is a difficult time of the year for families with kids in youth detention centers.

Our Ektenganov reports families have limited access to children in prisons.

Rashida Robbins has a kid in Green Hill School, a 180-bed facility in Chihalas, Washington.

She says families were invited to holiday dinners in early December, but Robbins notes this was long before Christmas, and on that day, she says there will be a hole in her home that can't be filled.

It's pretty tough, and the lack of access to him during these times makes it even tougher.

The thought of him just sitting in a locked room makes it unbearable as a parent.

It's really rough.

Governor Jay Inslee has announced a proposal for a new youth facility to address overcrowding, specifically at Green Hill.

Organizations including Kids Are Kids and Team Child have criticized the plan, saying it doesn't address the current concerns at Green Hill.

And Goodwill of Southern Nevada is most known for its thrift stores and donation centers, but it's also instrumental in getting Nevadans trained and hired by local employers.

Goodwill of Southern Nevada's Brian Fukuzawa says the train-to-hire programs are good at getting Nevadans into in-demand fields, like healthcare and entertainment.

He adds their medical assistant, certified nursing assistant, and stagehand training programs prepare folks for employment in local industries within about three months.

Of course, we want people to come in with as many qualifications as they can.

It makes it easy for us, but it doesn't really matter where somebody comes from.

We will help them find employment no matter what that looks like.

A big part of our mission and our vision is to help people with upward mobility as well.

Fukuzawa says to qualify for the free training programs, Nevadans must have proper legal documentation to work in the US and meet certain income requirements.

I'm Alex Gonzalez reporting.

Finally, as President-elect Donald Trump doubles down on promises to round up and deport the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants, the city of Castle Rock has pledged to make its law enforcement personnel available to assist federal agencies, but that support could come with significant costs.

Jeremy Robbins with the American Immigration Council points to new data showing that deporting people who work in critical industries such as construction, education, food production, and healthcare would reduce the nation's GDP by nearly 7 percent, which is on par with losses during the Great Recession.

The cost of mass deportation would be tremendous, not just because it's so expensive to deport people, but because it would wreak havoc on the economy.

The cost of deportation is expected to be well over $100 billion, and Trump's transition team has vowed to slash federal funding for local governments that refuse to cooperate.

I'm Eric Gladys.

This is Mike Clifford.

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