News from around the nation.

Trump talked to Putin, told Russian leader not to escalate in Ukraine; Arizona passes abortion measure, advocates still concerned about a Trump presidency; Environmental advocates sue Montana over public documents; Los Angeles tackles hunger with new Office of Food Equity.

Transcript

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, November the 11th, 2024.

I'm Mike Clifford.

President-elect Donald Trump spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday, the first phone conversation between the two men since Trump won the election, said several people familiar with the battle.

That for The Washington Post.

They report during the call, which Trump took from his resort in Florida, he advised the Russian president not to escalate the war in Ukraine and reminded him of Washington's sizable military presence in Europe.

Sources say the two men discussed the goal of peace on the European continent, and Trump expressed an interest in follow-up conversations to discuss the resolution of the Ukraine war soon.

Next to Arizona were voters overwhelmingly supporting and approved Proposition 139 last week, which enshrines abortion rights into the state's constitution.

The measure will allow abortions up to fetal viability, which is about 24 weeks.

But Fatima Goss Graves with the National Women's Law Center says while ballot measures expanding access to abortion won in seven of the 10 states this election, she contends there are still countless ways to restrict and upend abortion access even further, including nationwide.

There's a long list of ways to target birth control, to target fertility treatments, to target our ability to control our own bodies and to be fully equal in this society.

We know that road will be long and hard.

Over the weekend, Arizona was officially called for former President Donald Trump, awarding him the state's 11 electoral college votes.

Graves says Trump has promised to veto a national abortion ban and to distance himself from the conservative playbook Project 2025.

She says reproductive rights advocates like herself expect the next administration to deliver on those campaign promises.

I'm Alex Gonzalez reporting.

And next we head to Montana, where citizens and environmental advocates have sued the state for withholding documents that have for decades been considered public information.

That includes all the correspondence and communication that goes into drafting a bill, including lawmakers conferring with lobbyists and other legislators.

Upper Seven Law's Riley Summers Flanagan says Montana's constitution protects residents' right to know about and participate in the legislative process.

The right to know is meant to protect our ability to examine the documents of any public agency.

This includes all executive branch agencies.

It includes all aspects of the legislature.

Anything that relates to their official business belongs to the people of Montana.

The Helena judge over the summer ruled that correspondence used to draft bills, so-called junk files, are not public record, reversing a 25-year-old policy.

I'm Mark Moran.

The rule was implemented when a district court ruled in favor of a state senator who argued that unique files related to gerrymandering should not be made public.

This is Public News Service.

It turns out about one-third of the population of L.A. doesn't have reliable access to healthy food, so leading philanthropic organizations are teaming up with Los Angeles County to launch a new Office of Health Equity.

Data from USC Dornsife show food insecurity is up 24 percent in 2022, linked to high food prices and to the end of a pandemic-era boost in CalFresh benefits.

Paula Daniels will head up the new office, which opens in January.

We have a food insecurity rate of about 30 percent, so you have that, and yet you have that paradox that at the same time, we are right next to the largest agricultural-producing area in the country.

I'm Suzanne Potter.

And book bans are on the rise in states like Maryland, according to a new report from PEN America.

The non-profit tracks issues of free expression and says Maryland tied with South Carolina at ninth for the number of books banned during the last school year.

Three Maryland school districts tossed out a total of 64 books.

Carroll County was responsible for 59 due to a new policy there that bans titles with any sexually explicit content, a policy backed by Moms for Liberty, a national parental rights group.

Tesslyn Magnuson with PEN America says parents have always had questions about books for their children and worked with librarians, but now she says the motive behind bans is changing.

There are people who don't want to read the titles, submit large challenges, 20, 30, 40 books at a time, and it's not about their child and their family.

It's about all the students, and it's much more ideological and much more driven by political interests across the country.

Some of the titles banned in Maryland included notable works like The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.

I'm Simone Perez.

Finally, from our Daniel Smith, a Knoxville environmental group raising concerns now about the new uranium enrichment facility slated to be operated in Oak Ridge.

Unlike past sites operated by the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration, the 750,000 square foot facility creating more than 300 jobs will be run by the private company Arano.

Tombe Cartelay with Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance says they are concerned with who will oversee safety regulations and environmental laws as the government traditionally handles these responsibilities, including conducting environmental analysis and reports for large projects.

How do lawsuits arise against private companies?

So there's kind of this like different method of enforcement that's going to be operated, and Arif is unsure about that.

And I feel like the public should also be concerned about that, especially because all these facilities have such a direct impact on public health.

This is Mike Clifford, and thank you for starting your week with Public News Service.

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