News from around the nation.

The U.S. warns Israel to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza or face military aid restrictions. Georgia sets a record with 252,000 early votes; efforts are underway in Georgia and Oregon to promote local food in schools and ensure free meals for all students, and lawsuits against TikTok target youth addiction and mental health concerns.

Transcript

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, Tuesday, October 16, 2024.

I'm Farah Sidiqi.

The White House confirmed Tuesday that the U.S. has warned Israel to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza within a month or face potential military aid restrictions.

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued the strongest warning from the U.S. since last year.

A record number of early votes have been cast in Georgia, with about 252,000 ballots submitted on Tuesday.

Amid the impacts of Hurricane Helene, this surpasses the previous record of 136,000 from 2020, according to state officials.

This October, schools in Georgia are celebrating National Farm to School Month by serving local produce in their meals.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is offering $700 million in new funding for local foods for schools and local foods for child care programs.

Jenny Lester-Moffitt with the USDA says these programs not only ensure students receive nutritious meals, but also create direct market opportunities for local farmers.

It not just provides healthy food for the kids, but it also provides much-needed markets for producers as well.

She says there's also a financial advantage for farmers.

Direct sells provides farmers with more revenue and keep those food dollars within local communities.

She and Tia Hudson reporting.

And now to Oregon, where groups are taking this opportunity to encourage lawmakers to make school meals available to every kid in the state.

Our Eric Tegethoff has more.

The School Meals for All Coalition is calling for legislation to make breakfast and lunch free for all Oregon students.

David Whelan with Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon says the state is already close to this goal.

About 1,191 schools in the state are already participating, and we're only 65 schools away.

Nine states have adopted universal school meals.

Opponents have pointed to the high cost of providing meals to every student in the state.

But one in six Oregon children faces hunger, according to Feeding America data.

An analysis of court documents by Kentucky Public Radio revealed the social media company TikTok new users can become addicted to the platform in under 35 minutes.

Kentucky is one of more than a dozen states suing TikTok, arguing the company knowingly harmed children and violated consumer protection laws.

University of Kentucky developmental psychology professor Chrystia Spears-Brown says rates of depression have spiked among teens.

We see it in affluent kids.

We see it in low-income kids.

We see it in rural communities.

We see it in urban communities.

The lawsuit seeks a stop to TikTok's practices and monetary compensation to states.

According to the latest CDC data, 40 percent of the nation's youth say they feel persistent sadness and hopelessness.

The nation's suicide rate among young people jumped 62 percent between 2007 through 2021.

TikTok argues it's implemented policies to protect children and says the lawsuits are misleading.

Nadia Ramlagan reporting.

This is public news service.

Despite Indiana's recent high-profile business deals, the state's economic fundamentals are lagging, with declining income and education levels posing significant challenges.

Joe Ulery reports.

Experts argue deeper investments in education and infrastructure are needed for sustainable growth.

Michael Hicks is the director of Ball State University's Center for Business and Economic Research.

The share of adults with a college degree relative to the country having slipped.

We see our per capita income relative to the country has slipped substantially.

Two percentage points, which is sort of a shocking three-decade change in two decades.

Although state officials point to low unemployment and rising capital investments as proof of success, Hicks contends without a focus on education and infrastructure, Indiana's long-term economic outlook remains uncertain.

And solar energy features are predicted to become the standard for future homes and commercial buildings.

Terry D reports one company wants to take the lead in making Illinois energy compliant.

Chicago-based Theus uses five principles to remove carbon emissions to construct energy-efficient commercial and residential buildings.

Co-founder and executive director Katrin Klingenberg says the company's mission is to make high-performing, healthy and low-energy buildings.

The easiest to do that is in multifamily housing, because at that point, like the energy upgrades, they actually amount to really just a relatively small additional upgrade than, for example, single-family housing.

The focus is cost, Klingenberg explains, not technology.

She notes what needs to occur is "sharpening their integrated systems design and changing their project delivery process."

U.S. Energy Information Administration Research says Illinois generates more electricity from nuclear energy than any other state, accounting for one-eighth of the nation's total nuclear power generation.

When crude oil prices fell in the 1990s, companies left at least 3.2 million oil and wells abandoned and unplugged around the United States.

One man in Montana is capping some of those wells, trying to shape American climate policy.

Curtis Schuck was checking on some crops in northern Montana in 2019 when he noticed a rotten egg smell, something he knew he shouldn't be smelling.

A nearby abandoned oil well was emitting methane.

I mean, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time or the right place at the right time, depending on how you look at it.

I just couldn't believe what I saw.

And so that left such an impression on me that, you know, throughout the rest of that day.

Schuck vowed to look for funding and cap as many abandoned wells as he could.

He decided to create the WellDoneFoundation.org from his pickup truck.

So far, their former oil and gas executive has capped 45 wells in 14 states.

I'm Mark Moran.

This is Farah Siddiqui for Public News Service.

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