News from around the nation.

Rural Iowa towns face barriers to accessing federal money; U.S. intel officials say Russia is behind attempts to smear Tim Walz; Apprenticeship programs in Arizona aim to fill employment gaps; Past felony convictions keep almost 400,000 in Tennessee from voting; FAIR Act would prevent companies from evading responsibility.

Transcript

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The Public News Service Daily Newscast, October the 23rd, 2024.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Leaders in Iowa's small towns sometimes express frustration when trying to get help from the federal government.

Local and federal officials met recently to discuss the challenges in rural Iowa and ways to overcome them.

Small-town Iowa officials met with federal agencies at the Connecting the Corridor session to learn how to bridge the gap between knowing what money's available and how to put it to work locally.

Michael Holton is the city administrator for Trainer Iowa, population 1,100.

Most of these small rural communities don't have dedicated staff that are necessarily right on top of things when it comes to being able to get funds to get them through the rainy days, and they have to look to other people to be able to help them through this jigsaw puzzle.

Holton points to Iowa's extremely active tornado season this year and says knowing how to get funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency was challenging.

He says local officials came away from the Connecting the Corridor session with direct federal contacts to call when problems arise in the future.

I'm Mark Moran.

Next, from our colleagues at National Public Radio, Russia was behind salacious false claims against Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz that circulated widely on social media last week.

That's according to U.S. intelligence officials.

NPR reports that this is what Russian propaganda looks like in 2024.

Vladimir Putin wants Donald Trump to win because he knows Trump will roll over and give him anything he wants, said a spokesman for the Harris-Waltz campaign.

And folks in Arizona who have completed a registered apprenticeship program could see an average of almost 50 percent increase in earnings.

That's according to a recent report by the Senate Joint Economic Committee.

The Arizona Department of Economic Security's Joanne Bueno says people in the Grand Canyon State who aren't a registered apprenticeship program start off at a certain wage but are guaranteed increases throughout the duration of their program.

Bueno says registered apprenticeship programs provide paid employment, on-the-job training, and continued learning, all with little to no school debt.

It's a program that pretty much moves everyone forward, whether it's upskilling them, giving them added knowledge to become more skilled.

It's also launching them into a better career pathway and a quality of life.

Bueno says she's spoken to many Arizonans who've completed registered apprenticeship programs who call it transformative.

Participants are white and male.

Bueno says Arizona is making progress when it comes to recruiting more women and people with disabilities.

The DES is also working to diversify the pathways for people to become teachers, hoping to reduce the shortage.

That apprenticeship program is scheduled to be up and running in a matter of months.

There's more information at apprenticeship.gov.

I'm Alex Gonzalez reporting.

This is Public News Service.

Critics of recent court cases say that they allow corporations to evade responsibility.

Large corporations often urge arbitration in cases where legal disputes arise, such as for a couple in New Jersey that was injured when an Uber driver ran a red light.

The couple sued Uber but was rebuffed because their daughter checked the company's terms and conditions agreement, which says riders will settle disputes through arbitration rather than in court.

Head of Oregon Consumer Justice Jagjit Nagra says these agreements are often sneaky.

These mandatory clauses that are buried in the fine print, they're there to evade accountability.

And what it does is it funnels disputes into a private system that more often than not favors corporations over individuals rather than it playing out in the court of law.

A similar case recently played out in a wrongful death case against Disney.

And the Oregon Supreme Court ruled in a 2022 case in favor of employers that require arbitration to settle employment-related disputes.

Companies with arbitration clauses have argued the process is quicker and less costly than court.

But Nagra says the forced arbitration and justice repeal or FAIR Act in the U.S.

Senate would take this process off the table.

And October marks Spina Bifida Awareness Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness about a birth defect that affects one in 2,000 births in the U.S. every year.

Ohioans like the Baden-Hopp family have faced this medical challenge head-on when their daughter Lexi was diagnosed with spina bifida in the womb during a 20-week ultrasound.

For Brittany, Lexi's mom, the journey from diagnosis to surgery was filled with anxiety, but it also led to lifesaving interventions at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, one of only a handful of hospitals equipped to offer fetal surgery for spina bifida.

When people meet or see someone with spina bifida, knowing how to ask questions about it, knowing how to approach the subject in a way that's informational, that it's going to be easier to understand and sympathize with that person.

Spina bifida occurs when the spine and spinal cord don't form properly, and though outcomes vary, access to advanced medical care can improve the quality of life for those affected.

Farah Siddiqui reporting.

Finally, our Kathleen Shannon lets us know while the enrollment period for Medicare is already underway, open enrollment on the health insurance marketplace is about to begin.

Open enrollment is the time for people to sign up for 2025 health plans through the federal insurance marketplace from November 1st through January 15th.

Those with Medicare can change plans through December 7th.

Stephanie McCulley with Enroll Wyoming says even people who don't intend to change their current plans should still review them, as costs can change.

You could be paying $10 a month for a plan you have now in 2024.

That plan could go up in cost substantially and surprise you get a bill in January for $180 for the same plan.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service, member and listener supported.

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