Six minutes of news from around the nation.

South Carolina Senate takes a pass on drawing a new Midterm map, High gas prices leave small Iowa businesses teetering; Is your Texas ZIP code making you sick? Solar-powered rooftop gardens a boon to warming Massachusetts cities.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service daily newscast May the 27th, 2026.

I'm Mike Clifford.

We head first to South Carolina, where the state Senate adjourned Tuesday without taking up a new congressional map that aimed to eliminate the state's only majority black district.

The New York Times notes by refusing to act, lawmakers defied pressure from President Trump and national conservatives to wade into the country's redistricting wars before the November elections.

Meantime, higher gas and diesel prices in Iowa are creating a chain of unaffordability.

The state's small business owners must pay more for vendors to transport products to their stores.

That cost is getting passed down now to consumers.

TNK Health and Nutrition co-owner Roshanda Young says a dramatic spike in gas prices has forced the company to pass the increase in the cost of her products, like nutritional supplements, nuts, and seeds, to her customers in Waterloo.

They have to make some tough choices, but there's some we'll try and help them out if we can.

But at the same time, if we want to be able to keep our doors open to the masses, we have to make the decision to increase the prices as well.

The U.S. Department of Labor reports the Consumer Price Index, which measures the overall cost of living, has risen nearly 4 percent compared to the same period last year.

Iowa farmers and large-scale ag producers are also navigating tariffs imposed by the Trump administration that have made machinery and other crop production tools more expensive.

I'm Mark Moran.

Gas prices are averaging about $4.30 a gallon across Iowa, up from $2.90 a year ago.

Original reporting for the story by Jonah Balekas with the American Independent.

Next year's zip code could determine how long you live in Texas and around the country.

According to research from the Episcopal Health Foundation, people who live in neighborhoods without grocery stores, safe parks, and access to preventive and emergency health care suffer from more health issues than people who do.

The information is illustrated in a new video that compares the lives of two families that live just miles apart.

The foundation's Brian Sasser says your community impacts your health as much as regular doctor's visits, diet, and exercise.

Food desert is a perfect example of opportunities and resources that are close by that make healthier choices easier.

What we have to realize is that if we live in an area that has a grocery store right by, those are things that some people that are living two miles away may not have.

He says access to adequate care can increase your life expectancy by 20 years.

The lack of sufficient services in certain areas leads to chronic stress and increased cases of diabetes, heart disease, asthma, and high blood pressure.

I'm Freda Ross reporting.

The World Health Organization categorizes diabetes as an epidemic, and approximately 3 million people in Texas are diagnosed with the illness.

This is Public News Service.

Massachusetts has long been a top state for rooftop solar power. and researchers say growing food beneath those solar panels will bring added benefits as urban populations grow.

Rooftop agrivoltaics is an advancing practice that aims to boost local food supplies and better insulate buildings, reducing their overall energy costs.

Jennifer Boussolo, associate professor of horticulture at Colorado State University, says these added green spaces even lower city temperatures, which can run 10 degrees hotter than in rural areas.

If we can target those roofs that can handle the weight and are an eyesore otherwise, to me that's the place to start.

She says solar panels protect rooftop gardens from excessive sun and wind, while moisture from the plants helps cool the panels, increasing their efficiency.

Early research shows warm season crops do especially well, with reports of cucumbers growing as big as baseball bats.

This story is based on original reporting by Matt Simon with Grist.

I'm Katherine Carley.

And the future of oyster harvesting in Louisiana may be through farms where mollusks are grown in cages as wild populations decline across the bayou.

Jason Petrie harvests oysters and is a member of the United Homa Nation.

He watched his grandfather do this work for many years.

But wild oyster populations have faced difficult times in recent decades.

After the BP oil spill in 2010, many oysters who require saltwater drowned, and Petrie's grandfather couldn't harvest them.

When the two returned, the waterways, which Petrie's grandfather knew in depth, looked entirely different as the state also grappled with coastal erosion.

I noticed him scratch his head, and he's like looking out the window, and then he walks outside the boat, he looks out that window, and then like just the look of confusion because, you know, like landmarks he had known were completely gone.

Petrie eventually worked as a nurse for a time in California, and he overheard colleagues discussing oyster farming.

This story was produced with original reporting from Boyce Uphold with the Food and Environment Reporting Network.

I'm Simone Perez.

Finally, groups fighting for clean waterways are revolted by the EPA's decision to roll back six by narrow rules on PFAS, otherwise known as Forever Chemicals.

The feds want to reissue narrower rules in Michigan and elsewhere on four substances, arguing the rulemaking process was legally flawed.

They would also give companies and water agencies two extra years to comply with rules on two other chemicals.

Maria Doa with the Environmental Defense Fund calls that move outrageous.

The federal government should be protecting us rather than supporting the economic interests who are profitating by this.

And the federal government should not be putting profits ahead of our health.

I'm Mark Richardson.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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