Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Democrats sue to prevent Trump's takeover of the Federal Elections Commission, a privatized postal service could make mail-in voting more difficult, and states move ahead with their own versions of the Equal Rights Amendment.

Transcript

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, March the 5th, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

President Donald Trump opened his address to a joint session of the Congress by applauding the swift and unrelenting action taken by his administration in the past six weeks, saying his administration was just getting started.

That from the New York Times.

The report Trump ran through a list of actions he's taken thus far, including renaming the Gulf of Mexico, dismantling diversity programs throughout the federal government, and increasing border security.

Trump also mocked Democrats for his ability to evade prosecution.

The Times notes the atmosphere was adversarial from the start.

Representative Al Green, an 11th term Democrat from Texas, was ejected after heckling the president.

Arkansas colleges and universities are trying to ensure that learning is not disrupted because of executive orders by the Trump administration.

President Donald Trump has rescinded a Biden-era rule barring Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, agents from making arrests on or near school campuses.

The Higher Ed Immigration Portal reports that 23,000 students in Arkansas are immigrants or international students.

American Federation of Teachers President Randy Weingarten says the union is working to make sure all students feel safe while they pursue their studies.

We have fought for and we will continue to fight for safe, welcoming campus communities with opportunity and dignity for all, where we accept all and we fight for all and we create opportunity for all.

The union suggests schools provide legal and mental health help to those who may be targeted.

Trump has made cracking down on illegal immigration a touchstone of the new administration.

I'm Freda Ross reporting.

And ever since the Fair Housing Act was established in the year 1968 to make discrimination in housing illegal, nonprofits around the country have helped investigate cases and counsel victims.

But the Trump administration has cut federal funding to many of them, including Montana Fair Housing.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development sent Montana Fair Housing Executive Director Pam Bean a termination notice for a $425,000 annual grant that Bean says makes up 83 percent of the organization's funding.

We had no notice, nothing.

And the letter indicated our grant no longer met the goals and priorities of the organization.

The letter, dated February 27th, states the termination is effective immediately and is at the direction of the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk's government cost-slashing program.

This comes weeks after HUD laid off hundreds of employees.

Many are bracing for further cuts.

I'm Kathleen Shannon.

According to the National Fair Housing Alliance, there were more than 33,000 reported complaints of housing discrimination in the U.S. in 2023.

This is public news service.

Next to South Dakota, where a Senate committee considers several bills today that would overhaul rules for getting citizen-led measures on the ballot.

Republican lawmakers want stricter requirements for ballot questions when South Dakota residents or affiliated organizations seek things like a constitutional amendment.

One bill calls for raising the approval threshold to 60 percent of the vote when a measure gets onto the ballot.

Stacey Roberts with Dakota Rural Action says this attempt appears to undermine voters' intelligence.

They're basically telling the population of South Dakota that they don't know what they're voting for.

And I think that's very untrue.

Whether it's signing a petition or deciding a ballot measure on Election Day, Roberts feels voters are well-informed.

She likens these bills to sour grapes following the success of recent initiatives like Medicaid expansion.

Bill sponsors say the ballots have been cluttered with too many citizen-led initiatives and that higher standards are needed for constitutional changes.

I'm Mike Moen.

And environmental groups are voicing concerns about plans to build the nation's first small modular reactors, or SMRs, at the Palisades nuclear plant in Covert Township, Michigan.

Poltec International says it aims to revive Palisades later this year, after it was decommissioned in 2022 and in five years installed the nation's first SMRs.

Critics warn the reactors would still produce radioactive waste without long-term disposal solutions and pose accidental risk like leaks and meltdowns.

Michael Keegan with the grassroots group Don't Waste Michigan says about 80 companies are competing to market their SMRs, which he argues aren't really small nuclear reactors.

A colleague of mine refers to them as small mythical reactors because they don't exist.

They're PowerPoint reactors.

It's hyperbole.

And they're all chasing Department of Energy money.

We're talking billions of dollars.

Crystal Blair reporting.

And finally, bad air quality days are a heightened concern as ozone season begins in North Carolina.

Ozone season in the state lasts from March through October, when hot weather increases the prevalence of ground-level ozone.

Education manager for Clean Air N.C. Rafaela Vaca says there are health impacts from poor ozone days.

Symptoms like shortness of breath, coughing and throat irritation as short-term impacts, but over time it can cause inflamed airways and worsening conditions like asthma, bronchitis, emphysema and also increase your susceptibility to lung infections.

Ground-level ozone forms from chemical reactions between nitrogen oxides and organic compounds emitted from car exhaust, aerosol and manufacturing facilities.

I'm Eric Tegethoff reporting.

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

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