News from around the nation.

At dueling rallies, Harris stresses unity as Trump attacks Biden's 'garbage' remark; Survey: Election poses a threat of business disruptions; Wisconsin's voter ID law can be a nightmare for student voters; Right-wing comedians gain ground in conventionally liberal spaces.

Transcript

♪♪ -The Public News Service Daily Newscast on October the 31st, 2024.

I'm Mike Clifford.

With six days now left in the 2024 presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald J. Trump hopscotched the battleground states as they sought to wring support from an electorate already in the full throes of early voting.

That from "The New York Times."

They report that both candidates began their day with rallies in North Carolina and plan to end it with events in Wisconsin, with Harris adding a stop in between in Pennsylvania, a signal about which states remain most competitive as Election Day nears.

Before a crowd of thousands in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Ms.

Harris offered herself as a president who would recruit competing voices into her White House and not, as Mr.

Trump has done, cast them as the nation's enemies.

And a new survey of public company audit firms reveals businesses are concerned the upcoming election could impact their financial performance.

The Center for Audit Quality found more than 60 percent of roughly 1,200 audit partners surveyed worry about potential disruptions.

Still, the center's CEO, Julie Bell Lindsey, says few companies are adjusting their business strategies.

So it suggests that while businesses expect some market turbulence and some uncertainty, they feel equipped to navigate through that.

Delta Airlines recently said election-related uncertainty would impact its fourth-quarter revenue as consumers hold off on discretionary spending.

Bell says geopolitical concerns also remain a top risk factor for businesses as conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East continue to impact the global economy.

Despite ongoing resilience, audit partners' outlook for the economy over the next year is only neutral, with most believing a recession is likely on the horizon.

I'm Katherine Carley.

Meantime, the uproar over racist jokes at the Madison Square Garden rally for former President Trump has put a spotlight on the increasing influence of right-leaning comedians.

Colorado State University Associate Professor Nick Marks, author of the book "That's Not Funny, How the Right Makes Comedy Work for Them," says comedy has become politically weaponized, especially over the past decade, and money is the main driver of division and partisanship.

It absolutely plays into the polarization of the United States on virtually every political issue.

They're trying to create different sets of in-groups and out-groups with their comedy.

In some ways, this is nothing new.

Marks says comedy has always created two groups, a laugher and a laughee, the butt of the joke.

He says what has changed since the rise of Trump is that conservative comics are no longer confined to niche right-wing comedy spaces.

They're reaching more mainstream audiences through platforms like Netflix.

I'm Eric Galatas.

Along the bastion of liberal-leaning shows, including "Saturday Night Live" and "The Daily Show," comics lobbing political jazz from the right perspective are gaining ground through popular podcasts such as the "Joe Rogan Experience."

This is Public News Service.

We head next to Wisconsin, where state law says that student ID can be used for voting, but only some schools issue state-compliant identification.

On some campuses, students need to request a special ID that includes their photo, legal name, signature, issuing date, and expiration date, the time between the issuing date and expiration date was previously limited to two years, but a recent change now allows a student to use an expired ID with proof of enrollment.

Kristen Hanson with Common Cause in Wisconsin works with college students to help them vote.

She says state law just makes it difficult.

This is one of the things that is a mystery, is a school already knows the student is who they say they are.

They've already provided identification to the school, and so the ID that the school gives should be enough without all this other nonsense attached to it.

I'm Judith Ruiz, Branch Reporting.

And a new report finds Project 2025's policies would increase annual energy costs for Nevadans by more than $230 per household by the year 2030.

That's scary to 26-year-old Caitlin Gachalian, who says she's fortunate to have a good-paying job, but can't afford to see her energy bills skyrocket even more.

I have a daughter that I put into daycare that is competing with all the other bills that I have to pay for, including utilities.

Utility bills are high, and they keep getting higher.

It's no longer really affordable to live anywhere.

Gachalian says she's living paycheck to paycheck and fears the dream of owning a home could stay that way.

She encourages voters to elect officials who will work to address their concerns and needs.

And while clean energy advocates say Project 2025 would derail the nation's clean energy transition, conservatives argue the plan is about government accountability and taking power back from the political establishment.

I'm Alex Gonzalez reporting.

Next, Hispanic families that fish to put food on the table are disproportionately affected by mercury that accumulates in seafood in Southern California.

Surveys at 10 piers in LA and Orange counties found that 60 percent of the anglers were Latino and native Spanish speakers, and that 78 percent of them were fishing to feed their families.

Sofia Barboza with Hispanic Access Foundation says those families are exposed to toxins in fish from polluted waters.

We found that Hispanic anglers in California are actually ingesting an average of 13.9 micrograms of mercury per day via fish consumption that they had caught in local waters.

And this is double the amount of mercury that has been determined as safe by the EPA.

I'm Suzanne Potter.

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

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