Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Trump's not happy about TACO - Wall Street's name for tariff flip-flops; Spokane coalition aims to diversify city's economy; Indiana animal research lab reduced to shoestring staff; Louisiana Dems call union opt-out bill an attack on labor; Alcohol addiction on rise among Massachusetts women.

Transcript

The Public News Service daily newscast, May the 29th, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Wall Street has a new shorthand about President Donald Trump, and he's not happy about it.

Traders have reportedly come up with the acronym TACO, which stands for Trump Always Chickens Out.

That from Politico, their report he bristled when asked about it in the Oval Office Wednesday.

"Don't ever say what you say, that's a nasty question," Trump told a reporter who asked for his response to the acronym to me, Trump said, that's the nastiest question.

Meantime, a coalition of community leaders are connecting Spokane residents to career opportunities with the goal of building a strong, diverse economy.

Washington's second largest city, which once relied on timber and mining, has seen growth in industries like health care, advanced manufacturing and technology.

Erin Vincent is with Greater Spokane Inc., the region's business development organization.

She says part of workforce development means focusing on young people.

One of GSI's initiatives, Business After School, gives local students in the 6th through the 12th grades the chance to gain real life skills in a workplace setting.

Whether it's trades, apprenticeships, two years, four years, any of those are great options.

What can we do to create the conditions so that kids can choose whatever is best for them?

Vincent says about 12 host businesses participate in Business After School during the year.

She adds students get a glimpse into different careers in a variety of ways, including career fairs and visits from industry professionals.

I'm Isabel Charlay.

Support for this reporting provided by the Illumina Foundation.

This story is based on original reporting by Laura Aka for Working Nation.

And President Trump's directive to fire thousands of probationary federal workers in February has led to a reduced staff at an Indiana animal research lab.

A staff reduction leaves just one scientist at the Livestock Behavioral Research unit at Purdue University, a sub lab of the USDA's Agricultural Research Service.

Established in 1992, the lab has led research on farm animals pain, nutritional needs, cognition, and stress.

Sentient environmental reporter Gray Moran says the welfare conditions of farm animals are not public knowledge given that few people directly interact with these animals.

So much of what happens to farm animals happens behind closed doors.

It happens within windowless barns that the public rarely view but so many animals experience immense pain through mass animal confinement.

Direct knowledge of the animals experiences is unavailable Moran adds and it is hard to say if living in a crowded barn is stressful for a chicken but the lab provided insight into this question.

Moran believes that with less staff the complete closure of the lab could happen.

I'm Terry Dee reporting.

And this story produced with original reporting by Gray Moran for Sentient Policy.

This is Public News Service.

A bill pending in the legislature would require public employees to opt into their unions is being called a direct attack on Louisiana workers.

The measure, House Bill 293, requires teachers, school staff, and public employees to either reauthorize or opt out of their union membership annually.

Recent polling shows a majority of Louisiana's oppose weakening workers protections.

John Davis with a polling firm, Robber Research, says opposition to the bill comes from the left and right.

There's significant amount of support in Louisiana for continued protections around workers, their ability to organize and a concern about policymakers shifting away from policies that support those end goals.

The bill has been approved in the state House and is pending a vote in the Senate.

A release by the Louisiana Democratic Party said the bill would force yearly re-sign-ups and let bosses drop union members at any time.

Backers say the bill prevents public workers from being forced to pay union dues.

I'm Danielle Smith.

And studies show heavy drinking among women has increased more than 40 percent since the pandemic, putting them at a higher risk of liver disease, breast cancer and depression.

The National Institutes of Health reports nearly one in three women aged 18 to 25 now binge drink on a regular basis.

Dr. Rachel Sacco-Adams with Boston University's School of Public Health encourages women to re-evaluate their drinking habits and know the risks.

Be more thoughtful about when and why you're choosing to drink and think about that really the lower amount of alcohol you have, that is a prevention strategy.

So your risks will be lower the less you have.

It's recommended that women limit their alcohol intake to one drink or fewer each day.

But Adams says it's important to ask for help if daily routines begin to revolve around alcohol, if family relationships become strained, or if it becomes harder to get to work.

I'm Catherine Carley.

Finally, housing groups across the country this week have declared a national week of action as federal lawmakers consider a budget that eliminates all funding for fair housing programs.

Montana Fair Housing ensures housing in the state is non-discriminatory, as mandated by federal law.

But Republicans' federal budget bill, which last week advanced from the House to the Senate by a single vote, has zeroed out all funding for Fair Housing Initiative programs in 2026.

Lawmakers argue groups can still apply for Fair Housing Assistance Program dollars, known as FAP.

But Pam Beam with Montana Fair Housing says the state doesn't have that program.

If the budget stands as it is now, there will be no fair housing monies coming into the state of Montana.

And to get a FAP, we would have to change our state law.

Bean says the group she receives the most requests from, and would be most impacted by cuts, is people with disabilities, including veterans, older Montanans who have age-acquired limitations, and those who've worked in the ag, mining, and timber industries.

I'm Kathleen Shannon.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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