Six minutes of news from around the nation.

DHS reverses course on TSA PreCheck suspension after confusion; President's trade officer says no change on tariff policy; MT farmers 'relieved' by SCOTUS tariff ruling, frustrated by costs; CA leaders urge BLM to stop new oil and gas leases; Alabamians urged to know their risk during American Heart Month; Formerly incarcerated WI instructor reshapes criminal justice education.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, February the 23rd, 2026.

I'm Mike Clifford.

The Department of Homeland Security said it was taking several measures that could be disruptive for some travelers after its funding lapsed earlier this month.

One of the moves announced had been the suspension of TSA PreCheck, which allows travelers to move through airport security more quickly, but the New York Times reports the department said Sunday the program remained in operation.

Next, Jamison Greer, the U.S. Trade Representative, said Sunday that the Trump administration had found ways to reconstruct its punishing tariffs in the wake of a Supreme Court decision that struck down Trump's earlier duties.

He told ABC's This Week the global 15 percent tariffs announced by Trump on Saturday were a "very durable tool" legally.

Meantime, Montana farmers are reacting to the high court's ruling that Trump does not have the authority to impose tariffs.

Our Laura Hatch reports.

Montana Farmers Union President Walter Schweitzer says he's relieved by the court's decision, but he's also frustrated by the damage he says tariffs have done to farmers.

He says one of the biggest issues has been lost customers for their crops and damage to relationships that have taken decades to build.

We lost customers that we may never get back.

And from this point on, we're gonna be the market of last resort and lowest price.

There has been talk of refunds for businesses and consumers who paid the tariffs, but it's unclear when, if, or even how that would happen.

I'm Laura Hatch reporting.

And California groups are speaking out against moves by the Bureau of Land Management to open up new leases for oil and gas drilling in the Bakersfield area and on the Central Coast.

Public comment is open now through March 13th on the environmental impact statements for both regions.

Council member Felipe Perez from the town of Firebaugh near Fresno says the area is already choked with dirty air from existing wells.

In Kerrin County, anyone can smell the pollution there from oil and gas operations.

People breathe it in all the time.

Areas where mainly people of color live.

People's lives should always come before corporate profit.

President Donald Trump has made it a priority to support the oil and gas industry, promising regulatory relief if they contributed $1 billion to his campaign.

I'm Suzanne Potter.

Next to Alabama where heart disease accounts for nearly 30 percent of all deaths, making it the state's leading killer, Lisa Salzberg is the founder and CEO of the non-profit hypertrophic cardiomyopathy association.

We want to encourage people to look back at their family tree and see if there's any cardiac diagnoses or even symptoms.

If you have a family history of stroke, you should be discussing history of stroke with your chosen health care provider.

During American Heart Month, medical experts are urging folks across the nation to take prevention seriously.

This is Public News Service.

A new class at the University of Wisconsin Law School aims to fill gaps in traditional legal training by letting students learn from a formerly incarcerated professor.

The class called Criminal Justice System, a lived experience perspective, aims to provide students with a real image of incarceration from arrest to reentry.

Dante Cottingham is a co-instructor who serves substantial time in Wisconsin's prison system.

He says students are often taught to understand what the law says on paper, but lack exposure to its real-world impacts.

I told the students, "You guys bring a learned experience to the table.

I bring a lived experience to the table."

So my whole hope is to connect their learned experience with my lived experience and create something new, something more potent, something more powerful.

The class is in its first semester.

Cottingham says not only is it already proving to be transformational for students, but it's also changing the narrative by showing people what's possible during life after prison.

I'm Judith Ruiz Branch reporting.

Next to New York State where lawmakers are considering a bill to reduce plastic packaging and increase recycling, the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act calls for manufacturers to reduce plastic packaging by 30 percent over 12 years, with the first 10 percent reduction required by 2027.

Monique Fitzgerald with the Long Island Progressive Coalition says plastic toxins have significant health impacts on communities like North Bellport.

People have higher incidences of asthma and respiratory illnesses.

We have the first highest ER visits for asthma in Suffolk County and North Bellport.

We also have the lowest life expectancy as of 2018.

These impacts stem from Brookhaven landfills emissions according to Fitzgerald.

The bill has received wide support and polls show the idea is popular among New Yorkers.

However, it faces opposition and misinformation from the plastic industry with some leaders arguing passing the bill will cost taxpayers more money.

But some reports claim passing the bill would save the state more than a billion dollars in its first decade as a law.

I'm Edwin J. Viera.

Finally, West Virginians have seen dramatic increases in electricity costs over the past several years, affordability advocates say they want lawmakers to enact a rapier's Bill of Rights to protect consumers.

They feel that House Bill 5648 makes progress toward that goal.

It would allow for bill assistance to help reduce shut offs, legalize small scale household solar systems and allow residents to participate in utility regulation proceedings at the Public Service Commission.

Courtney McDonald is with West Virginians for Energy Freedom.

She says the bill provides essential protections.

It creates stronger guardrails so that when rates do go up there is more transparency, public input, and real consumer protection that doesn't exist right now.

This is Nadia Ramlagon for West Virginia News Service.

This is Mike Clifford and thank you for starting your week with Public News Service.

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