Six minutes of news from around the nation.

As Elon Musk looks on, Trump says he's giving DOGE even more power; Officials monitor latest AR bird flu outbreak; NV lawmaker proposes new date for Indigenous Peoples Day; NM lawmaker says journalists of all stripes need protection; Closure of EPA branch would harm VA environment.

Transcript

The Public News Service Daily Newscast for February the 12th, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday he was signing an executive order to give tech millionaire Elon Musk more power over the federal workforce, adding to Musk's swift and sweeping consolidation of political influence.

That from NBC News.

They report with Musk standing to his right in the Oval Office.

Trump praised the work of his office, known as DOGE.

And Trump said he wanted Musk to do even more, as DOGE faces multiple lawsuits from labor unions and Democratic state attorneys general over whether it's acting within the law.

Meantime, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is investigating a bird flu outbreak at an Arkansas broiler operation in Clay County, as well as in some backyard flocks across the state.

According to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, close to 230,000 birds have been exposed to the HPAI virus.

Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness at the University of Arkansas, Jada Thompson, says conditions in these facilities contribute to the spread of the illness.

The breeding systems prolongs the cost of the disease outbreak and prolongs the replenishment of that system.

And so when we start talking about the disease outbreak, it's not even just the direct impact and the biological lag to replenishment, but it's also the multiplicative impact in terms of further upstream on that system.

Since December, birds have tested positive in seven counties across Arkansas, including Sharp, Craighead, and Lafayette.

I'm Freda Ross reporting.

As bird flu cases increase across the country, consumers are seeing higher grocery prices at the store.

And Nevada's only sitting Indigenous lawmaker has introduced a bill to recognize Indigenous Peoples Day on what she calls the correct day, the second Monday in October.

Governor Joe Lombardo issued a proclamation designating August 9th as Indigenous Peoples Day in Nevada.

But Assemblywoman Shaya Backus says it doesn't pay Indigenous communities the recognition or respect they deserve.

She says Assembly Bill 144 would align both dates as is celebrated across the nation.

Indigenous Peoples Day isn't just about a day of recognition.

It's about placing Indigenous voices at the forefront of decisions that shape the future of the state.

It is this deep cultural connection that has shaped the character of the state of Nevada and should be celebrated.

Backus says opponents of the bill see it as an attempt to remove Columbus Day, a federal holiday, from the books.

She rejects that notion and says the second Monday in October could instead be shared between both holidays.

But backers of the bill say banks and other establishments already recognize the October date both as Indigenous Peoples Day and Columbus Day and see the bill as a formality to codify the joint recognition into law.

I'm Alex Gonzalez reporting.

This is Public News Service.

A former community organizer and a newly elected lawmaker is responding to the Trump administration's escalating attacks on the press when they proposed law to strengthen privacy protections for journalists in New Mexico.

Representative Sarah Silva says House Bill 153 is needed to replace a state statute last updated in the 1970s before the internet, email, and cell phones.

With the Trump administration targeting journalists as enemies of the state for reporting the daily news, she says it's important to reinforce a reporter's privilege to protect their sources.

Given the current state of affairs at the federal level, I want to do as much as I can to protect journalists here in New Mexico from the threat of subpoena or some sort of civil case.

I'm Roz Brown.

And the Trump administration has begun to dismantle the EPA's office that deals with reducing environmental harms to minority and low-income communities that have faced the brunt of climate change and pollution.

More than 160 staffers in the EPA's Office of Environmental Justice and Civil Rights were put on paid administrative leave last week.

Combined with two other offices in 2022, more than 200 staffers work for the office.

Adrienne Hollis with the National Wildlife Federation says the office has an important role in making sure environmental health efforts are distributed equally.

The Office of Environmental Justice and Civil Rights focuses on issues that affect communities and groups of people that are disproportionately impacted by environmental issues or disproportionately impacted when rules and regulations are not followed or even when there are issues around site cleanup.

The office was first created by former President George H.W. Bush in 1992.

Since 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency has conducted more than 300 reviews of civil rights compliance, including eight in the Commonwealth.

I'm Zimone Perez.

We head finally to Illinois, a top meat-packing state, and the latest study reinforces the dangers workers in this industry often face. 81 percent of poultry workers are at high risk for musculoskeletal disorders, according to the U.S.

Department of Agriculture study.

Nearly half reported moderate to severe pain in the past year, but say they didn't report it to their supervisors.

Investigative journalist Nina Ilkati with the publication Sentient says the high piece rate system, or how many pieces of meat a worker packages in a given amount of time, is the driving factor.

A lot of people working in meatpacking facilities are migrant and immigrant workers.

Some potentially might not be documented.

I'm Judith Ruiz, Branch Reporting.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

Member and listener supported.

Hear us on interesting radio stations, your favorite podcast platform.

Find our content and our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.