Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Israeli forces kill 67 Palestinians seeking aid in northern Gaza, Hamas-run ministry says; Public broadcasting funding cuts could hurt rural Utah communities; NYS implements fire safety as battery storage investments grow; Ohio asylum case highlights civil rights and voter access; OR funding for affordable homeownership dwindles.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service daily newscast July the 21st, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

The Israeli military has killed at least 67 people waiting for UN aid in northern Gaza.

The territory's Hamas-run health ministry says.

That's for the BBC.

They report the UN World Food Program said its 25-truck convoy encountered massive crowds of hungry civilians which came under gunfire soon after it crossed from Israel and cleared checkpoints.

The Israeli Defense Forces said that it had fired warning shots to remove an immediate threat.

It disputed the number of reported deaths.

The BBC notes Saturday the ministry warned extreme hunger was increasing in Gaza and growing numbers of people arriving at his facilities in a state of extreme exhaustion and fatigue.

Meantime back in the US state officials are concerned.

Congressional cuts to funding for public broadcasters could hurt dozens of rural communities across Utah.

House members approved a bill early Friday to claw back $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which is used to fund programming on PBS and NPR stations.

President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill.

Utah Governor Spencer Cox is concerned the changes will hit rural communities the hardest.

I worry about the impacts that that will have on safety, security, broadcasting in our local areas.

These are resources that are really important.

PBS and NPR outlets are based at the University of Utah, but rebroadcast programming across the state via remote transmitters.

The bill cuts $2.5 million from Utah broadcasters.

I'm Suzanne Potter.

Utah broadcasters say the cuts will likely mean fewer regular programs and less local news.

Currently, most local broadcasters cover an average of about 20 percent of their annual budget funding, in smaller states and tribal nations it can be as much as 50 percent.

And safety concerns are growing as New York State invests in different renewable energies.

This comes after a battery storage system in Ulster County caught fire but was quickly extinguished.

Fires like these aren't uncommon, but they can be devastating if not handled promptly.

Paul Rogers is a retired firefighter and co-founder of the Energy Safety Response Group, which helps develop fire safety systems and battery storage.

He says the system's electrolyte can cause explosions when heated.

When that electrolyte heats up, like any liquid, it starts to vaporize.

Like when water heats up, it vaporizes into steam.

But in this situation, it vaporizes into a flammable gas.

Regulations require buildings to have ways to extract that flammable gas and prevent explosions or fires.

Experts are working to improve these systems by limiting how fires can spread.

Rogers says the fires he's studied often show outside forces are to blame.

He notes analyzing examples of system failure helped educate battery storage system experts and firefighters.

He says some systems are now designed to burn themselves out. because the stored energy that's there, if you allow it to burn, it will dissipate that energy.

This is Edwin J. Vieira for New York News Connection.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.

This is Public News Service.

Next to Cleveland, where a Muslim religious leader is at the center of a high profile asylum case, drawing renewed attention to civil rights concerns in Ohio.

Including events at the Ohio State House and in Cleveland.

More than 16,000 asylum cases remain pending in Ohio's immigration courts.

Rob Rotliff, an attorney representing Imam Ayman Suleiman, says the U.S. government's decision to revoke asylum protection sets a precedent that should concern every immigrant.

It clearly indicates that that grant of asylum is never permanent, and should the political winds change and new determinations are made, it may impact whether or not you have asylum eligibility.

Supporters of the stricter immigration oversight say new rules are needed to prevent abuse of the asylum system.

Solomon's bond hearing is set for July 23rd in Cleveland.

The office of the principal legal advisor Detroit Cleveland, which represents ICE in this jurisdiction, did not respond to a request for comment.

Farrah Siddiqui reporting.

And the latest round of state-funded LIFT home ownership grants will fund 239 new affordable homes across Oregon.

Previous LIFT grants totaling over 100 million dollars have helped triple affordable home production.

Kim Gammon from Habitat for Humanity in La Pine says the funding will support 10 new homes in the next two years, but notes the program's future is uncertain.

In a tough budget year, LIFT was left as the only surviving program supporting affordable home ownership in the state.

Through these grants, we really built up across the state a network of affordable housing that was finally producing at the level that we needed to see and we just took a giant step back.

Other programs like the Home Ownership Development Incubator Program and down payment assistance were cut entirely from the state's budget this year.

Programs focused on building new affordable rental properties retained funding.

I'm Isabel Charlay.

Finally a nonprofit is working with farmers in southeast Wisconsin to educate communities about the importance of agroforestry with plans to establish its first urban site in Milwaukee.

The trees across three sites this year in partnership with the Savannah Institute.

The sites include a community garden and two farms, one in Burlington owned by Iris Lee.

Lee says the agroforestry collaboration is breathing life back into her nearly 50 year old organic family farm.

You plant and design things that go together and that will help not only humans but the animals and nature and bugs.

Agroforestry integrates trees, shrubs and perennial plants into crop and livestock systems.

Lee says one of the project's goals is to raise awareness of these practices and their larger connection to food systems.

I'm Judith Ruiz Branch reporting.

This is Mike Clifford.

Thank you for starting your week with Public News Service.

Member and listener supported.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.