News from around the nation.

As U.S. Senate votes down IVF bill, Minnesota parent speaks out; After false pet claims, Springfield mayor says Trump visit would be 'an extreme strain' on resources; Report: immigration enforcement changing, NW detention still high; Suicide rates rising among Indiana's diverse communities.

Transcript

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The Public News Service Daily newscast, September the 19th, 2024.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Like polling from other battleground states, the race for the White House remains close to Wisconsin.

But fresh numbers out this week show some momentum shifts.

In early July, AARP released survey results in Wisconsin following the debate between President Joe Biden and Republican nominee Donald Trump.

At that point, Trump had a 6-percentage-point lead among voters 18 and up in the Badger State.

Fast forward to September, and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris leads Trump by a single point for that same demographic in a new Wisconsin poll conducted after their debate.

Pollster Bob Ward explains what specifically changed following the summer shakeup on the Democratic ticket.

The movement among independents, where Trump was ahead of Biden by 5 points two months ago, and now Harris is ahead by 11 points.

The single-point lead for Harris is for a head-to-head matchup question.

It's slightly larger when factoring in third-party candidates.

However, among Wisconsin voters 50 and older, Trump is ahead by 2 points.

I'm Mike Moen.

And the International Brotherhood of Teamsters declined to endorse a presidential candidate Wednesday after releasing internal polling that showed a majority of its members supported former President Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris.

That's the take from CNN.

They report, "It's the first time in nearly three decades that the union has not endorsed a presidential candidate."

The Teamsters' president, Sean O'Brien, said in a statement, "Unfortunately, neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before big business."

CNN notes ahead of the decision, the Teamsters shared internal data showing that a majority of members supported Trump over Harris.

And next to Illinois, were rising demands for clean energy efficiency are producing a wealth of work opportunities.

According to the Energy.gov report, "Energy Facts - Impact of the Investing in America" agenda on Illinois, the Inflation Reduction Act will contribute to job increases by producing $18 billion of investment in clean power generation and storage by 2030.

E2 is a nationwide network of business leaders that focuses on environmental and economic policy.

State Advocacy Director Michaela Preskill says Illinois' robust and growing clean energy jobs are driving economic growth.

Clean energy jobs grew by over 4 percent last year, and that's eight times faster than the state's overall economy.

Workers manufacturing Energy Star appliances are using advanced materials for the construction and servicing of homes and commercial buildings.

These efforts result in cost-effective lighting and HVAC systems, Preskill notes, which saves consumers and homeowners money.

I'm Terry Dee reporting.

This is Public News Service.

September is Health Literacy Month, and a Denver-based group is working to help health professionals break a persistent pattern of discrimination linked to high disparities in maternal death rates.

Danielle Gilbert with the Colorado Council of Black Nurses points to research showing that between 2016 and 2020, nearly all pregnancy-related deaths of Black women could have been prevented through timely interventions at the patient, provider, or system level.

That report specifically found that discrimination played a role in over half of pregnancy-associated deaths, and approximately 90 percent of those pregnancy-related deaths were identified as preventable.

Black women in Colorado are twice as likely to die during their pregnancy or within one year of giving birth than the state's overall pregnant population, the leading cause of maternal death overall is self-harm and unintentional overdose, but for Black women, the number-one cause of death is heart failure.

I'm Eric Galatas.

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Washington's clean energy law could bring thousands of jobs and billions of dollars to the state.

That's according to a new report.

Greenline Insights' analysis of the Climate Commitment Act, the state's cap-and-invest law passed in 2021, finds it will create 45,000 jobs and generate more than $9 billion in economic output over the next five years.

Lead author Jonah Kerman-Faber says the law has outsized returns for local economies and gains for the state, as well.

These investments from the Climate Commitment Act support labor-intensive local industries.

We're thinking things like construction, manufacturing, business operations, transportation.

The law could be repealed if Initiative 2117 on the November ballot is approved.

Opponents of the Climate Commitment Act call it a sneaky tax on consumers.

Finally, our Alex Gonzalez invites us to the Pines Inn and Suites in Cottonwood, Arizona.

They had long dreamed of transitioning to solar energy, and thanks to federal grants and tax credits, it finally became a reality.

Owner and President Anna Mae Corey bought the property in 2001 and has been working since to make it greener.

For many years, Corey says she wanted to go solar but was worried the expense of installing the panels would outweigh the potential savings.

She says that all changed when she learned about federal dollars through the nonprofit Local First Arizona.

Even though I was already doing a lot of things, they currently support the solar business in that the government has a REAP grant where they will give you back 50 percent of your investment.

Corey says she was able to cover 70 percent of her business' solar installation cost with a $32,000 reimbursement from the Rural Energy for American Program, or REAP, and $23,000 from the Renewable Energy Investment Tax Credit.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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