News from around the nation.

Violent storms in the Northwest turn deadly: at least 3 dead and more than a million without power; More Ohio communities fighting air pollution from pyrolysis facilities; Groups urge Oregon lawmakers to close factory farm water 'loophole.' NewYork State elected officials say Renewables combat rising energy costs.

Transcript

The Public News Service Wednesday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Weather forecasters caught a derecho, a long line of storms that tore across the Midwest Tuesday, bringing violent winds, flash flood warnings, and tornadoes.

NBC News notes two of the deaths were in Indiana where a home in Portage exploded and a fire broke out.

In Jennings County, a child died when a tree fell on his bedroom, according to police.

In Ohio, Governor Mike DeWine said a person died in Roseville, and three tornadoes touched down in the south and southwest suburbs of Chicago.

Multiple storms are forecast for the Midwest and parts of Appalachia again today.

Meantime, after a pyrolysis facility in Hebron, Ohio, shut down, leaving behind a string of environmental violations, Arnania Romligon lets us know other communities across the state are paying closer attention to the public health threat posed by plastic incineration.

Anti-pollution groups say pyrolysis facilities in Ohio are exposing residents to toxic chemicals and failing to deliver on creating lasting, good-paying jobs.

Kat Adams is a petrochemicals organizer with Buckeye Environmental Network.

All of these facilities generate some form of hazardous waste.

Around these facilities, communities get sick.

Last year, Freepoint Ecosystem's Hebron Plastic Pyrolysis Facility shut down its doors after operating for less than two years.

The closure followed several Ohio Environmental Protection Agency notices of violation, community complaints over toxic air pollution, and regulatory warnings.

And groups working to protect Oregon's water are calling on state lawmakers to permanently limit how much factory farms can use.

A more than century-old state law known as the Stock Water Exemption allows factory farms to draw unlimited groundwater for livestock to drink, which new research shows amounts to billions of gallons each year.

In 2023, temporary limits were placed on new or expanding facilities, but those protections expire next year.

Kate Ruane with Food and Water Watch calls that sunset short-sighted and argues the caps must be permanent and expanded.

Allowing this stock water loophole to fully reopen would just be a gift to industrial animal agriculture and it would be at the expense of Oregon's water security and people's safety.

Ruane points to new findings from Food and Water Watch showing Oregon's 125 largest farms use over 4 billion gallons of water per year.

Industry representatives argue tighter caps could hinder milk and meat production and drive up costs.

I'm Isobel Charle.

Next, New York elected officials view clean energy as the best way to reduce rising energy costs.

Jeffrey Elder is a Niagara County legislator.

The United States should be pursuing every reliable source of energy that can make us more secure and reduce costs for all of our American families. wind, solar, and of course, being from Niagara Falls, I want to throw hydro in there.

The New York Energy Research and Development Authority finds 2026 electricity costs so far have been higher than in 2024 and 2025.

This is Public News Service.

As families prepare for the new school year, South Dakota health groups are encouraging parents to talk with health care providers about vaccines.

As part of National Immunization Awareness Month, the nonprofit Immunize South Dakota and the state's American Academy of Pediatrics chapter have launched a campaign called Let's Just Talk About It.

The group's Dani Golickson says it's about starting conversations and building relationships between parents, patients, and caregivers and their health care team.

This campaign is really there to help connect families with their trusted medical professionals who can answer questions based on the child's individual health needs and evidence-based information.

Immunization rates in South Dakota have declined in recent years.

The state's health department reported the measles vaccination rate was just under 90 percent last year, a five percent decline since 2020.

Measles cases are increasing, with 11 cases so far this year.

South Dakota had 16 cases for all of last year.

I'm Laura Hatch reporting.

Next, data centers are multiplying across Florida, fueled by the global AI race and the state's abundant land and water.

But a recent UNF poll found 68% of likely Florida voters oppose building an AI data center in their local area, and dozens of counties have passed moratoriums or bans.

Jonathan Alingu is co-executive director of Central Florida Jobs with Justice, a coalition monitoring data center development.

He says these projects come at a steep cost to residents.

It requires a lot of utility services, it requires a lot of water, so much so that it takes away from residents that need both of those services, and the result is it drives up the prices on both areas.

At least a dozen Florida counties and cities, including Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, Sarasota, Clay, and Nassau have adopted moratoriums.

This story was produced with original reporting from Josh Israel for the Florida Independent.

I'm Tramiel Gomes.

Finally, folks living in New Mexico will have one of the clearest views of this week's per se meteor showers.

Some say it's one of nature's most awe-inspiring sights.

A new study from the Action Network ranks New Mexico among the top 10 states for viewing.

And this year, a moonless new moon will enhance the show.

Robert Lunsford with the American Meteor Society says most meteors are the size of a pea, and they're not very bright.

But he adds sometimes to the size of a tennis ball, known as a fireball.

Every now and then you get one even larger, the size of a volleyball or a basketball, and those will be brighter than the full moon.

And they quite often leave persistent trains in the sky that look like smoke trails that last a minute or two.

I'm Roz Brown.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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