News from around the nation.

Alaska covers fewer kids with public insurance vs. 2019; Judge Cannon indefinitely postpones Trump's classified docs trial; Federal initiative empowers communities with career creation; Ohio teacher salaries haven't kept pace with inflation.

TRANSCRIPT

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The public news service Daily Newscast, May the 8th, 2024.

I'm Mike Clifford.

A new report shows the number of kids covered by Medicaid varied widely between states as pandemic area protections were lifted, with Alaska seeing a decline.

The Georgetown University report says nationwide, more than 4 million fewer children were enrolled in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program at the end of last year versus spring 2023 before the expiration of continuous coverage.

Alaska saw a 9 percent drop in enrollment.

The report estimates that in 70 percent of cases, children's coverage was canceled for procedural or red tape reasons, such as difficulty navigating the state's website, reaching a person via a helpline, or not receiving renewal notices.

Trevor Storrs with Alaska's Children's Trust says since there haven't been any changes in eligibility criteria, procedural cancellations are likely.

More than likely, we have a significant number of Alaska children who are eligible for Medicaid, but were potentially dropped from the program during the unwinding process.

And Alaska already had one of the highest rates of uninsured children, and this just adds to it.

Alaska was one of eight states that disenrolled so many children that it had fewer enrolled than prior to the pandemic.

Brett Pivito reporting.

Currently in the state, Medicaid recipients must reapply each year.

And the judge presiding over Donald Trump's criminal case in Florida on charges that he hoarded classified secrets at his Mar-a-Lago estate after his presidency has indefinitely postponed the trial once scheduled for May 20th.

That from Politico.

They report the date had been widely expected to move amid a tangle of pretrial conflicts between special counsel Jack Smith and Trump's attorneys.

Smith had urged Judge Eileen Cannon to reschedule the trial to begin on July the 8th, but an order from the judge Tuesday suggested that she is unlikely to even decide on a new trial date before late July.

And a collaboration between the federal government and local communities works to create new career opportunities.

The first environmental career worker apprentice readiness training program is funded by the Biden administration's Justice 40 initiative.

Tony Johnson, a black single father from Michigan, credits the program with altering his family's future.

He started his carpentry apprenticeship in April 2024 and is now on track for a union job in Flint.

Johnson says this is the only program he has ever been part of that has created a career opportunity.

Imagine going to college and after finishing your program, the instructor in line, you work with jobs and they keep in contact with you.

They gave us connections and comfort and stability knowing that we're not in this alone.

Johnson stumbled upon the program by chance and thinks it needs promotion in more Michigan communities.

It partners with community colleges, historically black colleges and universities, and apprenticeship programs.

Farah Siddiqui reporting.

This is public news service.

Lagging salaries have meant teachers in Ohio and across the nation are experiencing a 5 percent drop in purchasing power, according to a new report by the National Education Association.

Last year, state lawmakers approved a 17 percent raise to the base annual salary for teachers, from $30,000 to $35,000, and also agreed to fund the second phase of the state's fair school funding plan.

Scott DeMauro with the Ohio Education Association says those changes are silver linings, but notes Ohio has more work to do to alleviate shortages and retain educators in the field.

He says state investment for teacher pay should be a priority.

I think there's a disproportionately high reliance on local revenue, so that would be dollars that come from local tax levies as opposed to from the state to fund our public schools.

1,300 school districts around the country saw starting teacher salaries reach or surpass $40,000 during the last academic year.

Nadia Ramligan reporting.

And a Des Moines-based farm co-op is taking high-tech sports training into the country.

The field of high-tech sports training is usually reserved for athletes or other high-level performers, but that mindset is taking a dramatic turn as the Landis Farm Co-op in Des Moines has hired a physician.

Dr. Dara Harris has spent much of her medical career training the Toronto Blue Jays minor league baseball players and is bringing those skills to the Iowa countryside.

Harris says she's always been drawn to helping people who have to perform physically to make a living.

You don't have days off, you can't take it easy, right?

It's that rub some dirt on it kind of world.

And to be able to take the things that we've been learning in sports and in medicine and apply it to this group is just an incredible opportunity.

Phone, I'm Mark Moran.

Finally, Kathleen Shannon lets us know there are nearly 150,000 miles of rivers and streams in South Dakota, but new data shows many don't meet state standards for safe water quality.

According to the state's 2024 Surface Water Quality Report, nearly 80 percent of water studied don't meet the quality requirements for their intended uses, including recreation and aquatic life.

The primary contaminants are E. coli and total suspended solids, which make rivers run brown.

The report says some of the culprits are river bank erosion, runoff from large farm operations and sewage overflows.

Travis Entenman with friends at the Big Sioux River says those can pose human health risks through drinking water.

When there's excess nutrients in the water, it takes more cost, energy, equipment, time, money that goes into cleaning our water before we can drink it.

Much of the contamination comes from non-point sources.

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

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