News from around the nation.

Hurricane Helene set to slam Florida; Lawmakers act ahead of presidential election after rise in voter intimidation; Congress passes stopgap spending bill; Colorado residents use new tool to compare healthcare costs, quality; Overdose deaths drop in Kentucky but rise among Black residents; Arizona State alumna discovers link to ASU's history through ancestor; North Dakota task force reviews zoning laws for factory farms; Dogs highlight Montana's public lands.

Transcript

The Public News Service Daily Newscast for September 25th, 2024.

I'm Mary Sherman.

In his final address to the UN, President Joe Biden on Tuesday said the US must not retreat from the world amid increasing conflicts in the Middle East.

He also claimed that the US was on track to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, in line with its Paris Agreement commitment.

But progressive critics say the Biden administration hasn't pushed nearly hard enough, pointing to increased oil and gas production.

Meanwhile, a new report warns that the nation's climate goals are threatened by the rapid growth of industries like data centers and electric vehicles.

Shantia Hudson reports from Georgia.

Clean energy advocates say utilities are extending coal plant operations and planning new natural gas facilities to meet rising energy demands.

Lori Williams, co-author of the Demanding Better report, notes that while companies set ambitious climate goals, utilities remain reliant on fossil fuels.

As just one example, in late 2023, Georgia Power reported a 20 percent jump in expected electric demand, largely due to new data center interconnections.

She adds that Georgia Power later filed an emergency resource plan citing rapid load growth as the reason for extending a coal plant's lifespan and adding new natural gas capacity.

Williams stresses that while clean energy can take center stage, it requires actions from customers, regulators, and advocates alike.

Florida is under a state of emergency as tropical storm Helena moves toward the Gulf of Mexico.

It's expected to intensify into a major hurricane with 115 mile per hour winds by the time it makes landfall on Thursday.

Just as inflation starts to ease, small businesses face another looming threat, the potential expiration of the small business deduction.

Danielle Smith explains.

It's also called the Qualified Business Income, or QBI, deduction, and if Congress doesn't renew it, it could affect nearly 266,000 small businesses in Mississippi, which employ over 430,000 people.

Lee, along with the National Federation of Independent Business in Mississippi, says the Main Street Tax Certainty Act, which has bipartisan support, is set to expire in 2025.

It's the law that has allowed small companies to deduct up to 20 percent of their qualified business income.

It's a massive hit to their business because they rely on that, and they're also facing issues like inflation, cost pressure, so the uncertainty of the economy.

So right now, the biggest focus is on that and getting the congressional members to sign on to support it, to reinstate it, and make it permanent.

An NFIB August jobs report found that 40 percent of small business owners had job openings they could not fill in August, up two percentage points from July.

This is Public News Service.

New research finds college students' mental health improving.

We get the story from Edwin J. Viera.

In the last 10 years, there have been significant increases in anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts, but the change in this trend is being attributed to increasing attention to student mental health, with schools providing greater access to mental health care and resources.

Erin Bacowski with the Healthy Minds Network says students are also seeing increases in positive mental health.

Students feel like they are actively contributing to the happiness of others.

We feel that they are competent and capable and things that interest them.

They feel optimistic about their future.

The researchers also find increasing use of therapy and medication among college students.

More women are charged with pregnancy-related crimes since the end of Roe v.

Wade, despite not being accused of violating abortion bans.

Between June 2022 and June 2023, at least 210 women were charged with crimes related to their pregnancies.

That's the highest number that's been identified over a 12-month period in research projects that have looked back as far as 1973.

In a few months, North Dakota lawmakers will reconvene.

LGBTQ advocates are still unpacking the fallout from the 2023 legislative session when many controversial laws were adopted.

That session saw the passage of nearly a dozen laws deemed hostile towards LGBTQ people, namely students.

One high-profile policy allows teachers to ignore the preferred pronoun of a student.

Faye Seidler, a suicide prevention advocate for queer and transgender populations, suggests it can be tricky measuring the harm based on the intent behind some of these laws.

But she says it's pretty clear that they've amplified the perception that these youth feel unwelcome.

That then translates into a suicide contagion where a lot of folks feel more dread, feel more scared, have heightened risk factors.

She points to national data from the Trevor Project that show elevated demand for mental health crisis hotlines amid a wave of these laws pursued by conservative legislatures.

In school settings, Seidler says an underlying issue is there's no consistency in applying restrictive policies.

I'm Mike Moen.

It's a week to celebrate kids with National Daughters Day today and National Sons Day on Saturday.

But not all kids have a forever home.

Nearly 360,000 children are in foster care in the U.S.

In Texas, Adrienne and Shane Potter adopted siblings, 12-year-old Isaiah, 10-year-old Jordan, and four-year-old Sophia in 2020 after they had been in separate foster homes for years.

Adrienne Potter says the Dave Thomas Foundation worked with the adoption agency to get the kids settled with the services they needed.

Our caseworker got us connected to therapists, private tutors, music, private lessons.

They connected us to- States cover medical and other costs associated with kids in foster care.

The process to qualify to foster or adopt a child includes a series of classes, background checks, and home studies.

This is Mary Sherman for Public News Service, member and listener supported.

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