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Judge denies Trump's plea to delay Friday's sentencing on his hush money conviction. IA progressive advocates warn of 'dangerous' Trump appointments; Judicial shakeup ahead as Indiana reviews court resources; Climate Emotions Wheel aims to address mental health in climate education. 

Transcript

♪♪ The Public News Service Daily newscast, January the 7th, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Judge Juan Mershon has denied Donald Trump's request to postpone his Friday sentencing for his hutch money conviction, the judge said in a filing on Monday.

That from CNN.

They report Trump's lawyers are likely to appeal Mershon's decision to a New York appeals court.

CNN notes that Trump's legal maneuvers come on the same day that he was certified as the winner of the 2024 presidential election and four years since he tried to overturn his election loss and his supporters rioted at the U.S. Capitol.

Next, progressive advocates are expressing concern over President Donald-elect Trump's nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Amy Adams with Progress Iowa has been on the ground in small, rural towns, hearing concerns from residents about Kennedy's controversial stance on vaccines and his alleged promotion of baseless health claims.

They didn't want to see vaccines discontinued.

These were individuals who had seen polio in their lifetime and the impacts of this.

And just the concerns with Kennedy specifically and his ties to misinformation, vaccine conspiracy theories.

Those concerns aside, some progressive Democrats are considering supporting Kennedy for his stance on reducing the heavy corporate influence over the U.S. food supply and his goal of getting more chemicals out of what people consume.

I'm Mark Moran.

Meantime, Indiana lawmakers plan to address uneven workloads in trial courts.

Next session, instead of adding judges, they will move judicial resources.

The 2023 weighted caseload report shows Indiana has enough judges, but some counties are overwhelmed while others are underutilized.

Hamilton County has the highest workload with a utilization rate of 1.34, while Union County has the lowest at .35.

GOP Representative Chris Jeter of Fishers chairs the House Judiciary Committee.

He says he'll introduce a bill to fix the imbalance by reallocating judges to areas with greater need.

Even though it's hard, it needs to happen.

And in order for us to continue meeting the need of counties that are growing, we have to start doing this.

Judges in affected counties will stay in their roles until their terms end.

Opposition to the plan comes mostly from smaller counties, where some worry of losing vital judicial resources.

Jeter says the Interim Study Committee also recommended adding judges in counties like Hamilton, Elkhart, and Vigo.

This is a change that we need to make.

It's not gonna be easy.

This story was produced with original reporting from Marilyn Odendall for "The Indiana Citizen."

I'm Joe Ulery, Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.

Lawmakers will take up the issue next session.

This is "Public News Service."

A unique mental-health tool called the Climate Emotions Wheel is making its way into classrooms, helping students process their feelings about climate change.

Designed to supplement traditional therapy, the wheel encourages students to identify and navigate emotions such as anxiety, fear, and anger related to the climate crisis.

The wheel offers a flexible approach based on research by Dr. Panu Pekala, a leading Finnish expert on eco-anxiety and ecological emotions.

Sarah Newman with the Climate Mental Health Network highlights its significance, describing it as a fluid process.

Sometimes it's both joy and sadness or anger and inspiration.

But the wheel is really an important tool for people of all ages to understand and name and validate the different emotions that they're experiencing because of climate change.

This story was produced with original reporting from Rebecca Randall for YES Media.

I'm Tramell Gomes.

And a Pennsylvania environmental justice group is voicing concerns about the block sale of U.S. steel to Nippon Steel, citing its effect on the community and jobs.

If it does, go through.

Our Daniel Smith has more.

On Monday, Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel filed a lawsuit challenging the Biden administration over the decision.

Matthew Mihalik, executive director of the Pittsburgh-based nonprofit Breathe Projects, says Nippon's bid would not have benefited union workers or the community as it didn't include a long-term plan for helping the Bond Valley.

He adds Nippon said they would honor all collective bargaining agreements, but the union contract expires in 2026.

So, if you look at the big picture, really what Nippon wants is the Big River Steel and the brand-new electric arc non-union facilities in Arkansas that U.S. Steel spent over $4 billion over the past couple years purchasing and building up as a threat to deunionize U.S. Steel.

Finally, despite recent gains in sales, electric vehicles still face skepticism over concerns like the battery not holding up in cold weather.

Research has found that bitterly cold temperatures can reduce the average driving range of an electric vehicle from anywhere from 25 percent to 41 percent, depending on the circumstances.

Ingrid Malmgren with the group Plugin America says while some of these effects are real, they can be overstated.

A lot of EVs now include heat pumps to help the batteries be more efficient and to work better in cold weather.

And experts say drivers can take certain steps to ensure their commute goes smoothly.

That includes using a setting on most newer EV models that warms the battery to an optimal temperature, allowing for faster charging.

I'm Mike Moen.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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