Six minutes of news from around the nation.

From anguish to aggression: Trump goes on offense after midair collision; NH air monitoring project grows with help from citizen scientists; Maryland worst state for wage theft, study finds; Scholarships help OH women in public service amid diversity program cuts.

Transcript

The Public News Service Friday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

In the wake of this week's midair collision near Washington, D.C., the New York Times reports President Trump was more than happy to jump to conclusions, and in their words, "pull the country apart rather than together," which most former presidents have done in the wake of a disaster.

The Times Analysis reports after declaring it to be an hour of anguish for our nation, five minutes later, Trump let anguish give way to aggression, as he blamed diversity policies, which he says were promoted by Obama and Biden for the crash, which killed 67 people.

Meantime, an air pollution monitoring project in Keene, New Hampshire is engaging local residents while serving as a model for other communities nationwide.

Since 2017, air quality monitors connected to area homes have collected data to help build a live map of fine particle matter in the air and alert those most at risk.

East Keene resident, Michelle Chalice, says smoke from wood-burning stoves can quickly fill her neighborhood during the winter.

Anything that the citizens can do to have a more daily awareness of how their actions affect their home and their community's environment is incredibly valuable.

Chalice teaches children landscape design and says the project is an easy way to help care for those students with asthma, while raising awareness of unhealthy air pollution.

It's worked so well that the EPA expanded funding for more than 130 community air monitoring projects in 37 states.

I'm Catherine Carley.

Interest in the air monitoring project grew during the summer of 2023, when the Northeast was blanketed in fine particle pollution from Canadian wildfires.

And an analysis of US Labor Department data by financial education organization Goat Academy finds Maryland leads the nation in the average wages stolen from workers.

Maryland led all 50 states in the average amount of wages owed to employees at more than $2,200.

Bay State, neighbors Delaware and Virginia trailed Maryland with the second and third highest averages.

Amy Galatly, an attorney with the Public Justice Center, says those figures may just be the tip of the iceberg.

There's so many structural barriers to get a worker to the point where they feel confident that they know their rights are being violated.

They decide they wanna do something about it.

They know where to go.

Galatly adds that workers in certain industries historically have issues with wage theft, including those in construction, home care, cleaning services, food services, and retail.

I'm Zimone Perez.

Next, the gender gap in Ohio politics persist in President Trump's new executive order eliminating federal diversity programs is expected to create more challenges.

Ohio women in government is among the organizations working to bridge this gap by offering scholarships to students who take unpaid internships in state government.

Andrea Harless is the group's vice president-elect.

There are young women that just do not have the financial means to come to Columbus for a summer and pay to have an unpaid internship, and that does create barriers.

It's very real for a lot of people.

She says the $1,500 awards are designed to alleviate financial burdens, especially for those from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds.

This is Public News Service.

Elected officials in New York and nationwide joined an amicus brief, followed by the Public Rights Project fighting President Donald Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship.

It's being challenged on several fronts.

A federal judge is blocking it.

Since birthright citizenship is a 14th Amendment right, legal experts feel there's no basis for upholding the order.

Michael Chamitas with the Columbia County Board of Supervisors says people born in the county not being considered residents would have grave impacts.

If you take that conclusion down the line, you could imagine someone who's born here, who then has kids here, who then has grandkids here.

You could have generations of people living in a community living as non-citizens.

So it's even worse than being a second-class citizen.

They would be forced to live in the shadows.

Enacting this executive order could divert local and state resources from their intended purpose.

Given its broad implications, it could add more red tape for the government, create barriers to healthcare for families, reduce some young people's ability to get jobs due to discrimination, and harm the long-term economy.

I'm Edwin J. Vieira.

Next up, Indiana farmers are helping food pantries meet rising demand for protein.

Our Joe Uluri has more.

The program Helping Meet the Moment is not new.

However, it is being rebranded as Hoosier Hogs 2 Homes.

Jeanette Merritt with Indiana Pork says the program started in 2009 and has provided 1.6 million ground pork meals to families in need.

We launched the Million Meals Program with the thought that we were encouraging our pig farmers, community members, agricultural businesses to donate either ground pork or funds to Feeding Indiana's Hungry.

Feeding Indiana's Hungry says protein is one of the most requested items at food pantries.

Families rely on ground pork because it's versatile and easy to cook.

Finally, a North Dakota legislative committee Thursday took up a trio of bills about landowner rights as states in the region are eyed for carbon capture projects.

The measures stem from public scrutiny of Summit Carbon Solutions plans for a multi-state pipeline in the Midwest to capture ethanol plant's emissions for underground storage in North Dakota.

State regulators have signed off on it, but some landowners don't like the idea of signing land deals with the company.

Anne Bernhardt of Linton lives near the proposed route and provided testimony in favor of a bill to block developers of these projects from turning to eminent domain.

All we're asking for from our representatives is a little bit of protection.

Just do what's right.

Eminent domain is a legal move where a private property is forcefully turned over for public use with compensation provided.

The company says voluntary agreements are the goal, but adds these legal tools are needed for the state to take advantage of this technology.

I'm Mike Moen.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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