Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Trump signs executive order banning transgender athletes from women's sports, directing DOJ to enforce; Educators voice concern for PA immigrant student protections; WA rent stabilization bills have huge public support; ME benefits from $2.2 billion in federal clean energy investments.

Transcript

The Public News Service Daily Newscast for February the 6th, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday banning transgender athletes from participating in women's sports, fulfilling a promise that was at the center of his 2024 campaign.

That from ABC News.

They report the order will establish sweeping mandates on sex and sports policy and will direct federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, to interpret federal Title IX rules as prohibiting the participation of transgender girls and women in female sports categories.

And from The New York Times, a federal judge in Maryland blocked President Trump's executive order that sought to unilaterally eliminate automatic citizenship for children born to undocumented or temporary immigrants on US soil.

The Times reports the nationwide preliminary injunction is a more durable block than the 14-day restraining order issued last month by a court in Seattle.

And immigration policy changes under the Trump administration are instilling fear in Pennsylvania schools, as educators and advocates warn of their effects on students and families.

Our Danielle Smith has the story.

Over 62,000 immigrant children are residents in the Keystone State.

Kristen Rowe Finkbinder with Moms Rising says children are living in fear of family separation and a terrified child in a classroom full of fearful children can't learn or thrive.

We're hearing from people that many children are terrified that if they go to school, their parents won't be there when they come home.

That's no way to learn.

We're hearing from people that many students, indeed, whole classrooms are terrified that their close friends who are students won't be at their desks tomorrow.

None of this is OK.

Pittsburgh Public Schools website states that ICE requests to access students' information or school grounds must be reviewed by the district's law department and superintendent's office.

ICE officials cannot access students without prior legal approval and required documentation.

And new legislation in Olympia aims to ease the burden of skyrocketing rental rates by limiting yearly rent increases to 7 percent.

Chris Walker lives in a manufactured home community for seniors just outside of Sequim, Washington, and has been organizing for rent stabilization for three years.

She says after her monthly rate started rising sharply, she spoke with other communities and realized she wasn't alone.

Their lot rent started to increase 30 percent, 40 percent, 50 percent.

It's really disgusting what they've done.

We're on fixed incomes.

Walker says capping rent increases by 7 percent is helpful but is only a starting place, since average Social Security benefits increase by less than 3 percent annually.

A new poll shows nearly 70 percent of Washingtonians support rent stabilization.

Two companion bills in the House and Senate are working their way quickly through the legislature.

I'm Isabel Chardlay.

This is public news service.

Conservation groups in Maine are calling on the state's congressional delegation to protect federal funding for clean energy technologies.

A new report finds the state has benefited from more than $2 billion in clean energy investments stemming from the Inflation Reduction Act and bipartisan infrastructure law.

Jack Shapiro with the Natural Resources Council of Maine says many of the programs have helped low income and rural communities.

From a cost saving perspective, from an energy independence perspective, from a climate perspective, this is the right path to be on.

And we hope that we continue to have federal support to do that.

Shapiro says the state has received millions of additional dollars in climate resilience funding to better prepare for extreme weather events.

The Trump administration is reported to be exploring ways to cancel already approved loans for clean energy and redirect those funds towards nuclear power and liquefied natural gas.

I'm Catherine Carley.

And a bill introduced by Kentucky lawmakers would increase alternatives to prison or jail for parents convicted of nonviolent offenses.

Senior director of national campaigns for dream.org, Amanda Hall, who herself was separated from her child while incarcerated, says her son, who's now in college, testified before the Kentucky legislature about how being ripped from his mother left a lifelong imprint.

When my son spoke, he said that he will never forget the day that I was arrested and how that has literally changed his whole life.

Around 12 percent of kids in the Commonwealth have an incarcerated parent, one of the highest rates in the nation.

Considered an adverse childhood experience or ACE, research has linked parental incarceration to higher rates of depression, substance abuse, decreased educational outcomes, and homelessness among kids.

Nadia Ramlagan reporting.

Finally, new research by social scientists shows that kids who suffer traumatic experiences growing up are more likely to use firearms defensively as adults.

The research, done by social scientists at Rutgers University, asked respondents about abuse and neglect they suffered as kids, depression, their levels of social distrust and sensitivity to perceived threats.

Then they asked him about their use of guns when they feel threatened.

Lisa Cushott, director of ACEs 360, an Iowa organization that works with kids who've experienced childhood trauma, says recognizing a kid's triggers early on is critical.

You and I may not perceive threats that another person does because that's based off of our own perspective and experience.

So a person who's experienced significant trauma may see threats in settings or ways that you and I don't anticipate or understand.

Cushott says once people recognize triggers among youth who've been traumatized, it's easier to de-escalate a potentially dangerous situation.

I'm Mark Moran.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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