Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Arson suspect targeted Mississippi synagogue for its 'Jewish Ties,' F.B.I. Says; ICE in Minnesota: Rural town waits with worry; Advocates for trans student athletes rally outside SCOTUS; Postal union: Rural OR impacted most by mail slowdown.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, January 13, 2026.

I'm Mike Clifford.

The man charged with arson for setting a fire that severely damaged the oldest and largest synagogue in Mississippi told investigators that he had targeted the site because of its Jewish ties.

That's from the New York Times.

They report the man, identified as 19-year-old Steven Spencer Pittman, was arrested on Saturday for the fire early that morning that tore through Beth Israel, the lone synagogue in Jackson.

He was taken into custody at a hospital in the Jackson area where he is being treated for burn injuries.

The Times notes investigators were led to Pittman after his father called the FBI and said his son had told him that he was responsible according to an affidavit filed in federal court.

Meantime, Minnesota leaders are now suing the federal government over the large deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to the state.

The concern isn't just felt in the cities.

A rural town with a history of welcoming immigrants is also on guard.

Last week's fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent coincided with 2,000 federal officers being sent to the region.

In the small town of Pelican Rapids, resident Joan Ellison says the heightened activity makes her sick, noting that immigrants have energized the area, taking on jobs that help prop up this resort and farming community.

All of those things work off of having a strong, resilient community here. a good grocery store, a good hardware store.

And those people all depend on the immigrant community as well as the rest of the town.

She points to Latinos securing employment at the local turkey plant and refugees from places like Bosnia and Somalia working at nursing homes or starting their own businesses.

The new lawsuit seeking to halt the federal surge was filed by the state and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

I'm Mike Moen.

And advocates for transgender student athletes are rallying outside the US Supreme Court today as the court hears it challenged to state bans on such athletes.

The case, Little v. Hecox, challenges bans on transgender female student athletes in West Virginia and Idaho, arguing they violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

That clause grants all people protection under the law and has been the basis of major court rulings regarding segregation, gay marriage, and gender discrimination.

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin spearheaded national efforts to bar transgender women from sports, and 27 states now enforce bans on trans student-athletes.

Mariah Moore with the Transgender Law Center says the court's decision will likely leave hefty implications for civil rights in its wake.

The stakes are really high, and I think that this ruling could potentially impact civil rights across many areas of public life for trans people and not just in sports.

So this could determine whether trans people are protected under the 14th Amendment.

Supporters of these bans argue trans women have a biological competitive advantage when participating in women's sports.

I'm Zamone Perez.

This is Public News Service.

Tennessee's new State of the Child report shows some progress in 2025, but it also highlights the barriers faced by kids in the state.

The Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth report examines physical and mental health, education, family economics, child care and the state's child welfare and youth justice data.

Callie Graves, who works with the commission, says Tennessee's child poverty rate was 26.2 percent in 2014.

She notes the state saw a significant drop from 2019 to 2021.

This most recent year of data we have is 2024 and we decreased slightly.

So we're at 19.1 percent of Tennessee kids living in poverty.

Over the decade, the percent of children in poverty is going down.

However, we're still about one in five percent of Tennessee kids are in poverty.

The report is meant to provide policymakers, advocates, and the public with a data-informed view of the challenges and opportunities facing Tennessee children.

Danielle Smith reporting.

And supporters of Medicaid in Idaho gathered in the Capitol Monday to express their support for the program as the 2026 session opened up.

In his final State of the State address Monday, Governor Brad Little expressed his support for the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which will cut nearly a trillion dollars for Medicaid.

Hillary Matlock with Idaho Voices for Children says the state has made its own cuts to the service, including legislation that ends a program connecting kids on Medicaid with health care and a 4 percent cut to reimbursement rates for Medicaid providers.

She spoke to a crowd at the Capitol building.

We know some legislators are already threatening to repeal Medicaid expansion this legislative session contrary to the will of the voters just to balance a budget crisis.

At what cost do they do this and how many lives will be lost?

In his address Little praised the rural health transformation program contained within the one big beautiful bill act however Matlock says the funding will largely go to technology upgrades instead of keeping rural hospital doors open.

I'm Eric Tegethoff reporting.

Finally the American Postal Workers Union has released a statement opposing recent changes to the Postal Service and calling for more transparency.

The USPS has ended the practice of transporting nearly all collected mail to processing facilities on the same day.

Now, especially in rural areas, much of the mail is not processed until the next morning or after several days if collected before a weekend or holiday.

Daniel Cortez with the Oregon Postal Workers Union says while the slowdown presents many problems, it is too soon to tell how it will impact Oregon's elections.

I have faith in Oregon's ability to figure this out.

I worry about what this means for the rest of the country.

Cortez advises people who are sending time-sensitive mail, especially from outside of city centers, to hand the letter directly to a window clerk and ask for a postmark to guarantee it gets one the same day.

I'm Isabel Charlay.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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