Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Obama pushes back on Trump's treason claim as 'outrageous' and 'bizarre;' CO officials urge congressional delegates to support public lands; One year after massive spill, MN coal plant under scrutiny; despite federal ruling, ME credit reports still safe from medical debt; Humanities Montana struggles to make up for lost federal funding.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, July the 23rd, 2025.

I'm Mike McCleary.

Former President Barack Obama's office issued a rare rebuke of President Donald Trump Tuesday after the president accused his predecessor of having committed treason and rigging the 2016 and 2020 elections.

That from NBC News.

The report Obama spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush said, "Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response.

But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one," he added.

"These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction."

NBC Notes reporters on Tuesday asked Trump about the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

He pivoted to what he called "Obama's criminality."

And Tuesday, 20 Colorado officials sent a letter to the state's congressional delegation protesting six cuts to public lands management in the new tax and spending bill signed into law by President Donald Trump.

Ridgeway Mayor John Clark says the elimination of river and climate data programs, which are essential to managing the Colorado River Basin and forecasting drought, will put additional burdens on food producers.

If our farmers and ranchers don't have accurate data about exactly what the situation is with the snowpack and with what's happening with the climate, how can they be prepared for each growing season?

Five active wildfires have burned over 22,000 acres on Colorado's western slope, and the letter urges state representatives to reject any additional cuts to the U.S.

Forest Service's Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program or other mitigation efforts.

Republicans argue that cutting the size of government is necessary to eliminate waste, fraud and expenditures they claim are unsustainable.

I'm Eric Galatis. are also asking members of Congress to fully fund the National Park Service to ensure proper staffing and maintenance.

And one of Minnesota's largest electric utilities faces renewed pressure over the handling of waste at its coal plant in Cohasset, a city in the northern part of the state.

This week a handful of environmental organizations sent a letter to Minnesota Power demanding the company comply with federal rules in light of last summer's massive coal ash wastewater spill at the Boswell Energy Center.

The nonprofit Cure signed the and the group's legal director Hudson Kingston says Minnesota Power hasn't revealed its plan to fully clean up the spill to the public.

He argues not following that requirement keeps the region in the dark about threats to natural resources.

The adjacent waterway is the Mississippi River, so the majority of Minnesotans drink water out of that river.

So I think it's very important that we think about this in terms of a public health emergency really.

The group say if the company doesn't take action, they'll file a lawsuit.

The utility says it's reviewing the letter while continuing to work with the state and other stakeholders on a long-term remediation plan.

I'm Mike Moen.

This is Public News Service.

A federal judge has overturned a Biden-era rule to remove medical debt from consumer credit reports, but Maine residents will still be protected under a new state law.

Starting in September, medical providers and debt collection agencies will be prohibited from reporting medical debt to any consumer reporting agency.

Kate Endy with Augusta-based Consumers for Affordable Health Care says that can improve people's chances of finding housing, getting a loan, or even a job.

The majority of those with medical debt have reported that their credit score has been negatively impacted.

So this is going to help thousands of people in Maine.

Opponents of both the federal and state protections argued they would make it harder for lenders to determine a borrower's credit worthiness. but Endy says medical bills can be inaccurate and are not predictive of a person's ability to pay their debt on time.

I'm Katherine Carley.

And federal dollars support around 90 percent of the funding for Humanities Montana, which has provided state grants and programming for 50 years.

Executive Director Jill Baker says public-private partnerships have been key to serving every Montana County.

We take the federal dollars and they're locally directed and locally delivered.

Private donations will not be able to replace the level of federal funding that we receive from the National Endowment for Humanities.

In the past year, Baker adds Humanities Montana has supported local literary festivals and a youth journalism camp.

She says it also supports projects involving cowboy poetry, indigenous language revitalization, and veterans oral histories.

The Modern Language Association is one of three plaintiffs that filed a lawsuit in May against the U.S.

Department of Government Efficiency, the National Endowment of Humanities, and others over the cuts.

I'm Kathleen Shannon with Big Sky Connection.

Finally, a new report finds renewable energy accounts from the largest sources of power generation in the Texas power grid.

Data from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas or ERCOT shows that wind, solar and battery storage outpace natural gas, coal and nuclear as the top producers during the first six months of 2025.

Dennis Womstead, an energy analyst with the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis says renewables are quickly growing in their reliability.

Solar and wind in the state, or largely in the state, now accounts for 40 percent of electricity demand in ERCA, and that's up from about 15 percent a decade ago.

Womstead says experts believe wind and solar will both generate more energy than coal this year in Texas, which uses more electricity than any other state.

He says the growth is primarily due to the rapid expansion of utility scale solar across the state, he adds renewables are also a major contributor to ERCOT's ability to meet peak power demand.

I'm Freda Ross reporting.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service, member and listener supported.

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