News from around the nation.

Survey: Only 53% of high school students think voting is important; FBI investigates apparent assassination attempt of Trump in Florida; Nevada advocates ready for Tuesday's National Voter Registration Day; Plastics production highlighted during Pollution Prevention Week.

Transcript

The Public News Service Delaware Newscast, September the 16th, 2024.

I'm Mike Clifford.

About 53 percent of high school students think that voting's important.

That's according to a survey out today from the nonprofit Youth Truth.

Researchers polled 115,000 American high school students on civic engagement and found that 60 percent believe that helping others is important, but only 44 percent feel confident in their ability to make a difference.

Jennifer DeForest with Youth Truth says 30 percent of students translate their intentions into meaningful action.

They say, "We don't know where to start."

And that's the best case scenario 'cause for many students, they've actually internalized the message that the system is broken and that what they have to say doesn't matter.

Latinx students report feeling the most disempowered.

Only 26 percent have taken civic action and 46 percent believe voting is important.

Many students say they're focused on academic success and college acceptance, but they say extracurriculars like scouts, band, and sports do make them feel more civic-minded.

I'm Suzanne Potter.

And Donald Trump was the target Sunday of what appears to be an attempted assassination at his golf club in West Palm Beach.

The FBI said just one week after the Republican nominee survived another attempt on his life.

The Associated Press reports the former president said he was safe and well, and authorities held a man in custody.

The AP reports Secret Service agents posted a few holes up from where Trump was playing noticed the muzzle of an AK-47-style rifle sticking through the shrubbery.

An agent fired and the gunman dropped the rifle and fled.

The man was later taken into custody in a neighboring county.

And National Voter Registration Day is tomorrow, and voting rights advocates in Nevada want to make sure that everyone is set to make their voices heard in November.

Angelina Saldana is with Silver State Voices and says despite there being a presidential election this year, she stresses the importance of down-ballot races and initiatives that can have a direct impact on the lives of everyday Nevadans.

I tell people, you're not just voting for a person when you go to the ballot.

We also have all these ballot initiatives.

We have many going out this year, many that are really important.

One of them is including the right to reproductive rights in our state constitution.

Saldana acknowledges that while apathy surrounding elections is a real struggle, she encourages voters to take the opportunity to get educated on candidates and initiatives and vote for the issues that matter to them.

You can check your voter registration at registertovote.nv.gov.

Saldana says their partners have noticed an uptick in Nevadans showing interest in registering to vote, but she does want to remind folks that the deadline for registering to vote in the Silver State depends on how you register.

She says October 8th is the deadline for paper voter registration form.

I'm Alex Gonzalez reporting.

This is public news service.

It is pollution prevention week.

Advocates are renewing their call on one plastics manufacturer to clean up its act.

An August demonstration at Formosa Plastics New Jersey headquarters saw protesters demanding that the multinational company compensate victims of a 2016 environmental disaster in Vietnam, restore the impacted land, and cancel proposed expansions in Texas and Louisiana.

Activists from around the country participated, including representatives from Green Faith, the multi-faith climate justice organization.

The Reverend Fletcher Harper is its executive director and says many Formosa Plastics manufacturing locations have a long and well-documented record of toxic contamination.

The pollution has severe health impact on residents of communities, and the company does nothing to respond in terms of changing the way that it operates.

Statement via email, Formosa Plastics USA said it is committed to conducting business in a manner that is environmentally responsible and in compliance with applicable US regulations.

Rhett Pivotow reporting.

Meantime, a US Department of Justice investigation has found Kentucky is failing to provide access to community-based mental health services for people who need them, and instead relies too heavily on psychiatric hospitals.

The report says the state is potentially in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA.

Licensed psychologist Sheila Schuster says years of budget cuts have reduced or eliminated the city's crisis centers, such as the living room, which opened its doors in 2018 and was shut down within a year due to lack of funding.

Three to 400 people a month coming in and using the services and getting referrals, and then boom, it's gone.

So that was May of 2019, and we don't have anything like it back in place.

The University of Louisville Hospital provides emergency psychiatric treatment to more than 2,200 adults with serious mental illness each year.

In a separate investigation last year, the Justice Department concluded the city and the Louisville Metro Police Department violated the ADA by subjecting people with mental illness to an unnecessary police response.

Nadia Romlik on reporting.

Finally, from our Eric Tegethoff, tens of thousands of Oregonians set to see savings next year when prescription drug costs are capped.

According to a new report, it comes from AARP.

Starting in 2025, out-of-pocket prescription costs for people enrolled in the Medicare drug plan will top out at $2,000.

Stacey Larson with AARP Oregon says the number of people saving from this new law is expected to increase in coming years.

Here in Oregon, the people who are estimated to benefit from that new out-of-pocket cap every year will rise from an estimated 28,990 in 2025 to more than 37,000 by 2029.

This is Mike Clifford.

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