News from around the nation.

Study: 40% of voters willing to cross party lines on local issues; Harris prepares for the showdown she's long sought with Trump as he takes more informal approach; AR volunteers prepare for National Voter Registration Day; Iowa seeks to remove dangerous lead water pipes.

Transcript

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, September the 9th, 2024.

I'm Mike Clifford.

It's a common narrative that suggests that deeply polarized American voters always support their party's candidates.

But a new study suggests otherwise in certain circumstances.

Researchers from Sacramento State and San Diego State Universities asked more than 900 partisan voters about housing and homelessness, then asked them to choose.

In a hypothetical local election, between a candidate from their party who disagreed with their views, or one from an opposite party who is aligned with them on policy.

Sacramento State Associate Professor, Danielle Martin, co-authored this study.

Overall voters do support candidates from their own party, even when an opposite party candidate was closer to their views.

But we also found that about 40 percent defected from their party.

So instead of picking the co-partisan candidate, they picked the candidate that aligned with their preferences on one of those local issues.

I'm Suzanne Potter.

About 96 percent of electoral contests in the US are at the local level for races such as the school board, the city council, and the county board of supervisors.

Next from CNN, the most important moment in the race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump comes this week, as the vice president prepares for what could be her only opportunity to directly confront a former president whose political dominance she is pledging to end.

CNN reports their Tuesday night debate is particularly important for Harris, who is battling to define herself in voters' eyes and keep up positive momentum she's enjoyed since becoming the Democratic Party's new nominee this summer.

They note the debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia will be the first face-to-face encounter between Harris and Trump, who are locked in a tight race.

Meantime, volunteers with the Nonpartisan League of Women Voters are gearing up for National Voter Registration Day.

It happens September the 17th.

To register to vote in Arkansas, you must be a US citizen, 18 years old, or turning 18 on or before election day, and not be a convicted felon.

President of the Pulaski County League, Davida Harden, says they're focusing on first-time voters and conducting voter registration drives on high school and college campuses.

One of the questions that is asked the most is will my vote count?

So we assure them that their vote will count.

You are exercising your right to vote, and when you vote, their votes matter.

The deadline to register to vote in the November 5th general election is Monday, October 7th.

I'm Freda Ross reporting.

On September 17, volunteers will be at the Fonder Smith University on National Voter Registration Day.

This is Public News Service.

Next to Iowa, a state that's getting federal help to eliminate lead water pipes.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is working with local water agencies, planning where to prioritize funds.

As part of the bipartisan infrastructure law, cities and towns in Iowa are reducing the number of dangerous lead water lines.

The Iowa Environmental Council's Cody Smith says even homes built as recently as 1988 are connected to the local water utility with lead lines, which leaves people at risk, even in Iowa's big cities like Des Moines and Council Bluffs.

Particularly with the most vulnerable groups, such as unborn babies or young children, they have extreme and outsized risk related to exposure to lead through lead service lines that can cause higher levels of lead in the blood and lead to developmental issues for children.

The state's revolving fund, which is the primary source for water infrastructure updates, has received more than $620 million as part of the bipartisan infrastructure law.

The IEC says more than 700 communities have benefited so far.

I'm Mark Moran.

And in Kentucky, Fayette County is looking at approving industrial scale solar operations on farmland.

Ashley Wilms with the Kentucky Resources Council says her organization has developed a model planning and zoning ordinance local officials can use as a resource.

Our model ordinance offers a menu of options in certain areas to allow local officials, hopefully with the input from county residents, to select the options that best meet the needs and future land use plans of those communities.

Solar projects in the state are increasing.

In Eastern Kentucky, there are plans to turn 7,000 acres of former surface mine land into a large-scale solar operation that crosses several counties.

Nadia Ramlagon reporting.

Finally, for Mark, Terry D., the Biden administration issued an executive order in 2022 to strengthen and protect America's forest and old growth trees.

The Sierra Club and other environmental groups are pushing for more clarity from federal agencies on their strategy for protecting old growth forests.

Illinois Environmental Council Conservation Director Lindsey Keeney says those agencies manage forests with various goals in mind.

We trust our evidence-based science partners to decide what sort of management practices make sense within each of these forested areas, whether that is removing diseased trees through logging, using prescribed fire as an invasive species treatment, or other conservation practices to manage those forests.

The council acknowledges that forest stewardship practices are so fragmented that invasive species encroach on the trees.

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

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