Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Lawyer tells ABC News his 2 clients told House Ethics Committee that Gaetz paid them for sex; immigrant families in northwest Arkansas struggle to make ends meet; Colorado Report: Financially stressed managers abuse workers; Massachusetts farmers, families brace for cuts to fresh produce benefits.

Transcript

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, November the 19th, 2024.

I'm Mike Clifford.

An attorney representing two women who testified before the House Ethics Committee told ABC News in an interview that former Representative Matt Gaetz paid both of his adult clients for sex.

Florida attorney Joel Leppard told ABC that one of the clients also witnessed Gaetz having sex with a third woman, who was then 17 years old, at a house party in Florida.

ABC notes she testified in July of 2017 at this house party.

She was walking out of the pool area and then looked to the right and she saw Gaetz having sex with her friend, who was 17.

Gaetz denies the allegations.

Next to Northwest Arkansas, home to one of the largest populations of Marshallese people in the U.S., the immigrants moved to the U.S. to create a better life, but many find themselves struggling to make their ends meet.

More now in this Arkansas Advocate, went through Rockefeller Foundation, Arkansas News Service, collaboration.

Many of these households are below the ALICE threshold.

ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained and Employed, which means the families are working, but still struggle to cover their basic needs.

Antoinette Grajeda with the Arkansas Advocate says these immigrants find it hard to pay rent, bills and buy food.

The main thing that they're trying to do is just working several jobs.

Housing is also like it is in other places in the country, just more expensive, particularly in the Northwest Arkansas region.

And so they might have several people living together in the family in a smaller home.

She adds they face multiple challenges, including low paying jobs and language barriers.

I'm Freda Ross reporting.

And researchers at Colorado State University have been able to link the economic stress experienced by 78 percent of Americans living paycheck to paycheck to behavior that is bad for workers and the company bottom line.

Report co-author Keaton Fletcher says people who supervise other workers at all management levels are unleashing their economic frustrations on their direct reports.

When they feel financially stressed, they are more likely to be abusive or raiding or belittling, demeaning, sometimes yelling or cursing at subordinates.

The findings, published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, show that financial stress is experienced by bosses regardless of their salary levels and that men are more likely than women to be abusive towards subordinates.

The research was done in collaboration with the Anderson School of Management at the University of New Mexico.

I'm Eric Galatas.

Companies that tolerate abusive bosses are vulnerable to costly lawsuits.

Fletcher says even workers who don't report abuse or sue can hurt a company's bottom line.

They're more likely to show up late for work, be less productive, steal or talk badly about the company.

This is Public News Service.

Next to New England, where Massachusetts farmers say they are bracing for revenue losses due to cuts in SNAP benefits for fresh produce.

Starting December 1st, families who utilize the state's Healthy Incentives Program to buy food directly from farmers will see their benefits cut to just $20 a month, regardless of household size.

Rebecca Miller with the Massachusetts Food System Collaborative says many farmers have structured their operations around these customers.

A lot of them are worried that they might have to do layoffs, especially for folks that they've hired that are multilingual, that serve folks with SNAP benefits.

Miller says less money being spent at farmers markets will have a ripple effect across the state's agricultural industry.

Nearly 300 farmers participate in the SNAP program, but state officials say the cuts are needed due to budget constraints.

I'm Catherine Carley.

And American Education Week is underway.

Nebraskans are asked to find trust again in public school systems, including in rural areas.

There have been some improvements, but national polling shows a majority of Americans are still dissatisfied with K-12 education.

A Gallup survey last year showed a peak level of 63 percent.

It's down to 55 percent this year, but advocates say it's clear they need more public support.

Jack Moles of the Nebraska Rural Community Schools Association feels teachers remain dedicated, even though the classroom environment is much more different than when he was teaching.

It was a tough job then.

It's much tougher today.

And, you know, people are still going into it.

Moles says that dedication is apparent as students increasingly demonstrate social and emotional needs following the pandemic.

He says teacher staffing shortages are still an issue, but notes communities are getting creative with solutions that center around housing and other recruitment tools.

Moles encourages more of these efforts as a way to show support.

I'm Mike Moen.

Finally, with housing prices nearly doubling in the last 10 years, the number of Oregonians who can afford to buy a home without assistance has dwindled.

A new coalition has formed to change that.

The Unlocking Home Ownership Coalition is made up of more than 20 Oregon organizations and is submitting plans to the legislature to help address this problem.

The plans include investing in affordable housing, assistance for first-time homebuyers, and closing the 15 percent home ownership gap for communities of color.

Habitat for Humanity of Oregon is leading the coalition.

Shannon Vilhauer is Habitat's executive director.

Some Oregonians have just done all the right things, right?

Worked on credit repair, saving for a down payment, and yet, interest rates are high, wages have not kept pace with home prices, and sometimes we all need a handout to enter this first-time home ownership market.

From Owning Land, I'm Isabel Charlay.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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