Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Maria Corina Machado says she presented Trump with her Nobel peace prize medal; ME braces for ICE crackdown as Trump threatens Insurrection Act; Calls grow for oversight amid MS prison deaths; AI innovation causes inequity concerns for Black IL residents.

TRANSCRIPT

The public news service daily newscast January the 16th, 2026 on Mike Clifford.

The Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Karina Machado has said she presented her gold Nobel Peace Prize medal to Donald Trump after meeting him in the White House nearly a fortnight after he ordered the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

That from The Guardian.

They report Machado, who received the award last year for her struggle against Maduro's brutal authoritarian state told reporters he'd done so in recognition of his unique commitment to our freedom.

It was not immediately clear whether Trump had accepted the gift.

Machado, whose movement is widely believed to have beaten Maduro in Venezuela's 2024 election, was unexpectedly sidelined by Trump after U.S. Special Forces captured her political rival earlier this month.

The Guardian notes, "Earlier in the day, the Nobel organizers posted on X.

A medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate cannot.

Meantime, Maine officials are warning residents to prepare for stepped-up ICE enforcement after President Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act.

Trump believes federal troops may be needed to clamp down on anti-ICE protests in Minnesota, where a surge of agents has created chaos in neighborhoods, forced public schools to offer remote learning, and left one woman dead.

Ryan LaRochelle with the Cohen Institute for Leadership and Public Service at the University of Maine says sending in troops over the objection of state governors would dramatically escalate tensions.

This is typically something that states would request, not something that the federal government would simply enforce from the top down.

He argues the president's actions would be immediately challenged in court given the ample legal scholarship regarding use of the law over the opposition of local authorities.

Maine Governor Janet Mills says she's been unable to confirm stepped up ice enforcement in Maine, but state officials are helping cities like Lewiston and Portland get ready.

I'm Catherine Carley.

And dozens of people have died in Mississippi prisons over the past 10 years and few have been held accountable.

Our new investigation is highlighting the violence and transparency gaps inside state facilities.

Mississippi State Public Defender Andre Degrees says staffing shortages and overcrowding are at the heart of the problem and that lasting reform will require fewer people behind bars and an independent office to investigate wrongdoing.

The real answer to that is we have too many people in prison.

We have to figure out who we're mad at and who we're afraid of and focus on locking up people who are dangerous and not locking up people who just are doing things we don't like.

DeGruy notes that despite reform since 2014, Mississippi remains one of the nation's top incarcerators.

He says too many are still locked up for non-violent offenses like drug possession or certain gun charges which strains prison safety and resources.

I'm Tramiel Gomes.

This is Public News Service.

Next to Indiana where lawmakers are moving forward with a proposal that would greatly limit students cell phone use during the school day.

The Senate Education Committee passed Senate Bill 78 with bipartisan support.

Our Joe Ulori explains.

The bill would prohibit students from using personal cell phones and electronic devices from the start of the school day until dismissal.

Supporters say phones distract students from learning and contribute to academic and mental health concerns.

Committee Chair Jeff Rates said the bill focuses on keeping distracting devices out of students reach while school is in session.

What we try to accomplish here is be sort of way and inaccessible to a student throughout the school day which would prevent a student from carrying it.

School-issued laptops and tablets would still be allowed, and the bill includes exceptions for medical needs, language translation, and situations approved by a superintendent.

And Biden-era funding is helping to pay for lead pipe removal in nearly 30 Wisconsin communities.

Officials say the efforts reduce potential health risks and expand access to clean drinking water.

The funding being used by the state's lead service line replacement program largely comes from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, which dedicated $15 billion to identifying and replacing lead pipes nationwide.

Wisconsin faces a significant lead pipe challenge with more than 260,000 known public and private lead service lines and more than 200,000 that may contain lead.

James Robby with Public Works in Oshkosh says communities like his are already seeing major investments.

It's huge for our community because it helps us as an organization help our property owners get rid of those lead pipes.

Experts say lead exposure can harm brain development in children and increase the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and kidney or nervous system problems in adults.

I'm Judith Ruiz Branch reporting.

This story was produced with original reporting from Jonah Balekas for the Wisconsin Independent.

Finally, as the nation prepares to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., concerns about the growth of artificial intelligence and its impact on communities of color is increasing.

Experts say AI will disproportionately impact black workers through displacement and the environmental burden of data centers, which are more likely to be located in marginalized communities.

Keisha Bross, director of the NAACP Center for Opportunity, Race and Justice, says black workers are overrepresented in entry-level jobs, as well as manufacturing and logistics work.

The best thing that these companies can do is really provide educational tools and resources because we don't want people displaced from the workforce.

We want people to be back in the workforce, but also earning a wage that's livable.

The impact of data centers is more clear.

They've already been linked to health impacts for communities that live near them.

Illinois is a top destination for data centers, estimated to have nearly 200 across the state.

I'm Judith Ruiz Branch reporting.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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