Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Trump's pick to lead DEA withdraws from consideration; Report: NYS hospitals' operating margins impact patient care; Summit County, CO aims to remain economically viable in warming climate; SD Gov. sets aside 2026 budget funds for new education savings accounts.

Transcript

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The Public News Service daily newscast December the 4th, 2024.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Chad Chronister, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, said Tuesday he would withdraw his name for consideration.

That's from NBC News.

They report Chronister, who serves as sheriff in Hillsborough County, Florida, announced his plans to turn down the nomination in a post on "Next."

They quote the sheriff as saying to have been nominated by President-elect Trump to serve as administrator of the DEA is the honor of a lifetime.

He added, "Over the past several days, as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in, I've concluded that I must respectfully withdraw from consideration."

Meantime, a new report finds New York hospitals are in a precarious financial state.

The New York State Hospital's Fiscal Survey report finds statewide hospitals are projecting an operating budget of 0.0 percent.

While it's a slight improvement, it's still insufficient for hospitals to handle patient care.

Bee Grouse with the Healthcare Association of New York States says government reimbursements don't cover the costs of administering health care.

Those reimbursements are fixed and do not change.

They grow a little bit year over year, but they're not keeping up with the expense growth that all hospitals are experiencing.

She says hospitals can't raise their commercial expenses with the expectation it will make up the difference.

The best way to help hospitals is to close the gap on Medicare and Medicaid payments so they keep up with expense growth.

Prescription drugs are the largest continuously increasing expense hospitals face, since those prices are 83 percent above the rate of inflation.

I'm Edwin J. Vieira.

And a county high on the Colorado Rockies is working to include its underserved residents in plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

That's the primary driver of climate change.

Summit County Commissioner Nina Waters says its new Climate Equity Plan is an opportunity for all residents to help keep the area economically viable.

Summit County is a prime winter sports destination, and Waters says a warming planet puts all of that at risk.

Even man-made snow can't be created when temperatures hit 40 degrees.

We have four world-class resorts here in Summit County, and as the planet heats up, we're going to have drier winters, less snow, and that'll have really serious economical impacts to our community.

Officials tapped nonprofits and community leaders to engage low-income and minority residents who were left out of a 2019 Summit Community Climate Action Plan.

Using online surveys, focus groups, and individual interviews, new mitigation strategies emerged around energy use, transportation, and waste reduction, along with ways to lower barriers to allow more residents to participate in solutions.

Waters points to a recent EV ride-and-drive event created specifically for the county's 15 percent Latino population.

Residents were able to test-drive new electric vehicles, and the entire event was conducted in Spanish.

I'm Eric Galatas.

This is Public News Service.

In this week's budget address for 2026, Christy Dohm proposed establishing education savings accounts for K-12.

Five statewide education groups released a joint letter last week urging policymakers to strengthen public education.

Among them is the South Dakota Education Association, where public affairs director Sandra Waltman says Nome's plan to expand ESAs over time would harm South Dakota students who largely attend public schools.

This will certainly divert scarce tax dollars from our public schools, which serve 80 percent of South Dakota students, to private school operators that lack any taxpayer accountability.

Public schools will lose thousands of dollars in state aid, yet operational costs will remain the same.

The governor's proposal echoes similar Republican-led legislation in other states and will require action from South Dakota lawmakers in the next legislative session.

A similar K-12 voucher bill brought to the House Education Committee in 2023 died in the chamber.

I'm Kathleen Shannon.

And next to Maryland, a state that has one of the highest percentages in the nation of people in prison who began serving time when they were juveniles.

A new report from Human Rights for Kids includes survey results for more than 120 people in Maryland who've been in prison since childhood.

It found nearly 70 percent had experienced six or more adverse childhood experiences or ACEs, the major upheavals in a child's life that affect their development, from abuse and neglect to incarcerated relatives and domestic violence.

Nate Bayless with the Annie E. Casey Foundation says one concern is that children in Maryland are automatically tried as adults if they're accused of any of more than 30 crimes.

Because it's based on offense and not based on the individual circumstances of the offense itself or of a young person's history or of even considering the trauma that young people have experienced, it means that just because of the offense, we are charging young people as adults.

The report says 6 percent of Maryland's incarcerated population has been in prison since childhood.

I'm Zimone Perez.

Finally, there is promising news at the national level and in Minnesota in trying to lower workplace injuries and illnesses.

Minnesota's Department of Labor and Industry recently released survey data showing the state's rate for nonfatal workplace injuries decreased last year by almost a full percentage point that mirrors similar movement with the national rate.

Brad Leto of the Minnesota AFL-CIO says the numbers are encouraging, but other findings stand out.

It's good injuries are down, but are people getting the benefits is the question.

For injured workers, Leto feels the levels of denied benefit claims by insurance companies are too elevated.

He does credit some employers, including bigger chains like Costco, for making a serious effort to protect workers.

I'm Mike Moen.

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

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