Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Trump Musk feud explodes with claim president is named in Epstein files; Disaster recovery workshops slated for eastern KY small business owners; As trans rights roll back, gender-diverse Virginians face job market barriers; Federal budget bill would mean big cuts for NY state.

Transcript

The Public News Service Doughan Newscast for June the 6th, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

The war of words between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump erupted into a full meltdown Thursday with Musk slamming Trump for ingratitude over the 2024 election, agreeing with a call for his impeachment, slamming the president's signature legislation, and even claiming Trump was in the Epstein files.

That from ABC News.

The report Trump speaking on television from the Oval Office said he was disappointed in Musk following his criticism Wednesday of what Trump calls the "big beautiful mega bill" to fund the agenda, and then engaged in a mutual barrage of social media posts at one point saying "Musk is gone.

Full caps.

Crazy."

And as eastern Kentucky communities attempt to bounce back from a string of natural disasters, more small businesses are struggling to get back on their feet.

A series of upcoming workshops led by the Mountain Association and Apparel Red Legal Aid this month aims to help small businesses in the region better prepare for emergencies.

Jessica Epperson coordinates disaster recovery for the Mountain Association.

She says if businesses can get up and running as quickly as possible after a catastrophe, communities benefit.

They're going to cover the topics such as the death of a business owner, legal considerations, lifestyle arrangements, key person insurance, estate planning, just to help businesses really prepare for the other side of a disaster.

Workshop participants also can sign up for free one-on-one meetings with an attorney.

Workshops will be held in Hazard on Wednesday, London on Thursday, Ashland on June 17th, and Prestonsburg on June 18th.

More information is available at mtassociation.org/workshop.

Nadia Ramlagan reporting.

According to the Small Business Administration, between March 22 and March 23, more than 16,000 small businesses opened in Kentucky and around 9,500 shut their doors.

Transgender, intersex, and gender diverse, or TGI, people face barriers entering and rising in the workplace.

Advocates for TGI people say employers could do better to make their companies more inclusive.

More than 60 percent of transgender and gender non-conforming people report experiencing negative interactions in the workplace, such as colleagues gossiping about their gender identity or being purposefully excluded.

Martha Gomez with Trans Can Work says finding quality employment opportunities have been even more challenging in this political climate.

Unfortunately, right now, there is so much more ability for people to be transphobic and more openly transphobic in their policies.

I think that has added even more to our ability to find jobs and to find jobs that pay us well.

President Donald Trump in January signed an executive order that reversed protections for more than 14,000 transgender federal employees.

I'm Simone Perez.

This is Public News Service.

New reports show that the state of New York faces multi-billion dollar budget cuts if the federal budget reconciliation bill passes in its current form.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office report finds what's known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would cost the state government more than $15 billion annually and kick 1.5 million New Yorkers off their health insurance.

Medicaid cuts of this magnitude would also affect hospitals statewide.

Nathan Gustorf with the Fiscal Policy Institute says the domino effects wouldn't end there.

The act will also reduce federal funding for food stamps, or SNAP, a program that keeps three million low-income New Yorkers from going hungry.

But it requires state governments to fill in these spending gaps, which could cost New York State up to $2.1 billion annually.

He notes New York elected officials will have to choose between spending cuts to safety net programs or new tax measures to fund them.

Proponents of the federal budget reconciliation bill as it's now written say it would cut wasteful government spending and extend tax breaks.

But the CBO report finds it would add almost $2.5 trillion to the federal deficit.

I'm Edwin J. Vieira.

And the Mississippi River tops a new list of America's most endangered rivers, in part because federal officials propose shifting flood disaster costs to the states.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA's acting chief, advocates moving recovery responsibilities to state governments.

But Eileen Shader with the group American Rivers, which issued the new report, warns this could destabilize flood protections for communities along the Mississippi.

The Trump administration has called for FEMA to be dramatically changed, if not eliminated.

And we thought it was really important to highlight the importance of FEMA and the federal role in managing disasters like flooding to our local communities.

The 2025 Most Endangered Rivers report points out that this is the Mississippi's 13th appearance on the list, citing the river's history of catastrophic floods that have shaped national disaster policies.

I'm Tramiel Gomes.

Finally, folks in New Mexico will gather in Las Cruces, Tawas and other locations tomorrow for a day of action to defend national monuments and public lands.

The second Trump administration has renewed calls to sell off public lands to save the government money.

Maya King-Flaherty with the Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter says advocates are rallying to prevent public lands from being turned over to states, industry groups and developers.

We're really trying to inform the public about the senseless attacks on our public lands that the administration is moving forward with.

To call on our congressional delegates in New Mexico to keep pushing back and letting them know that their constituents are behind them.

I'm Roz Brown.

The Washington Post reported the Trump administration had included New Mexico's Oregon Mountains Desert Peaks in a list of six national monuments for potential mining activities and reduction in protections.

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

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