Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Powerful winds in the forecast as firefighters battle major LA County wildfires; Trump supporters go 'all in' for Pete Hegseth with money, coordination; Hoosiers on alert as Trump's OMB pick sparks policy concerns; Ohio cities embrace clean energy innovation; CA trans advocates focus on economic opportunity.

Transcript

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, January the 14th, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

First to California where evacuation orders remain in effect for the Eaton Fire and Palisades Fire in Los Angeles County nearly a week after they started in the Santa Ana windstorm.

That from NBC4 Los Angeles.

It reports strong winds are returning and continue through Wednesday for parts of Southern California.

Some areas will be under a particularly dangerous situation, red flag warning.

And as Pete Hegseth prepares for confirmation hearings, a coalition of outside groups is pressuring Republican senators to confirm him as President-elect Donald J.

Trump's Secretary of Defense or face daunting political fallout if they do not.

That from the New York Times.

They report Hegseth, a military veteran and former TV anchor, has been grappling with a variety of damaging accusations including bouts of heavy drinking, financial mismanagement, and sexual assault.

Meantime, Hoosiers, enduring severe weather conditions like the current Arctic blast, could see potential policy shifts if Russ Vought is confirmed as Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Vought was a key architect of Project 2025 and has promoted reducing federal oversight and environmental regulations.

EDF Action President David Keeve claims Vought's policies could hinder efforts to address climate challenges and disaster relief.

He also alleges Vought aims to eliminate the National Climate Assessment, raising concerns for communities relying on federal disaster aid.

Indiana continues to struggle with severe weather events.

They rely on agencies like FEMA and NOAA to keep them safe in a constantly changing climate.

President-elect Donald Trump, however, argues Vought's record under his previous administration proves he is capable, noting his ability to cut four regulations for every new regulation.

I'm Joe Ulori, Public News Service.

And clean energy initiatives are gaining momentum across Ohio with efforts aimed at expanding access and advancing sustainability.

Not limited to energy, these programs can reflect a broader vision for Ohioans striving for economic and environmental resilience.

Valerie Katz, Deputy Administrator for Cuyahoga Green Energy, says the county puts its weight behind these efforts.

So whether it's, you know, solar or geothermal or wind, you know, whatever's out there, you know, whatever renewable energy fits the bell and is the right type of technology to meet the purpose at hand, that's what we need to be doing.

Cuyahoga County's establishment of its own electric utility exemplifies this drive for efficiency.

The utility manages initiatives like solar installations on schools, industrial microgrids and residential co-ops.

However, these advances also face scrutiny as critics point to potential costs and challenges of transitioning to renewable infrastructure.

Farah Siddiqi reporting.

This is Public News Service.

Next, a California non-profit dedicated to helping transgender and gender non-conforming people find good jobs is looking to expand its mission in 2025, back from the brink of closure last year.

Trans Can Work, based in Los Angeles, shut down last January when its funding fell through and reopened in June thanks to a three-year grant from the James Irvine Foundation.

Board Chair Tony Newman says the trans community suffers from extremely high rates of unemployment.

Every American, regardless of who they are, race, age and gender, should be able to get a job in America that they're qualified for and have some type of economic security.

Why are our numbers so high at 65 percent, living at the poverty level or below?

Just because we're different.

That's un-American and it's wrong.

A 2021 study from the McKinsey Company found that transgender adults are twice as likely as their cisgender peers to be unemployed.

I'm Suzanne Potter.

And as the popular role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons turns 50, one Colorado State University instructor suggests today's political leaders could learn a lot by rolling the dice.

James Fielder calls the game a master class in political strategy, covering everything from diplomacy to alliance forming to conflict resolution.

Fielder says players have to work together to achieve a goal.

If you're at odds with each other, you don't achieve anything.

So the lesson is that we're learning to negotiate in order to overcome a challenge.

And that lesson sticks.

You come out of the table, oh I learned how to negotiate with other people and we overcame a challenge.

It worked.

A former Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, Fielder has more than two decades of experience designing war games and training exercises.

He says role-playing is not just child's play.

I'm Eric Galatas.

Finally, a coalition of Montana groups will rally at the Capitol on Wednesday to advocate for the protection of Medicaid expansion, which legislators will debate this session before the program scheduled expiration in June.

The state's 10-year-old Medicaid expansion program covers 75,000 low-income Montanans at an annual cost of about $1 billion, according to KFF Health News.

The state picks up about 10 percent of the tap.

Kristen Stewart is an organizer for the advocacy group Big Sky 55 Plus and a caregiver who is enrolled in Medicaid herself.

Many Medicaid enrollees do work, but Stewart says that work is often undervalued.

Medicaid supports a lot of people who are doing unpaid work, things that were we to monetize, you would see an economic boost from their production level, often more than the cost of their care.

The Gianforte administration already tightened eligibility for the program, cutting the number of enrollees by nearly 40 percent between May 2023 and October 2024.

I'm Kathleen Shannon.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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