News from around the nation.

Supreme Court is asked to take another ax to campaign finance limits; Supreme Court poised to expand Trump's power over independent agencies; IN Senate panel moves bill to redraw districts early; National campaign resonates in MS as death penalty scrutiny grows; KY task force offers new guidance to ease housing strain.

Transcript

The Public News Service Tuesday afternoon update, I'm Mike Clifford.

The Supreme Court today will hear a major challenge to the way political campaigns are funded that could sharply reduce one of Democrats' financial advantages in recent years.

That from the New York Times.

They report 15 years ago the Supreme Court dramatically remade the campaign finance landscape in the landmark Citizens United case.

The case the justices consider today involves one of the remaining limits on how much money parties can spend in coordination with candidates.

And for the Washington Post, the Supreme Court Monday appeared poised to allow President Trump to fire a leader of the Federal Trade Commission, a ruling that could limit or overturn a 90-year-old precedent that curbs executive power to dismiss the heads of agencies Congress set up to be independent.

Meantime, Indiana lawmakers advanced a House bill Monday that would let the state redraw district boundaries outside the usual 10-year census cycle.

Our Joey Ulory has more.

About 80 Hoosiers testified before the panel against the idea.

About 20 spoke in favor.

The mood in the hearing room grew tense at times.

Opponents, such as Marion County resident Carolyn Higginbotham, warned that mid-cycle redistricting would risk unfair political manipulation and erode public trust.

We want our leaders to focus on the issues that really matter to us, issues like housing, education, and healthcare.

I know you're feeling a lot of pressure to do the bidding of Washington.

Some of you have received threats against you and your families.

Critics argue the change would reward in power and penalize communities of interest, the bill now moves to the full Senate.

And a new national campaign to abolish the death penalty is launching amid a renewed focus on capital punishment in states like Mississippi.

After a hiatus of more than a decade, the state has carried out two executions in 2025 using new lethal injection protocols.

The U.S. campaign to end the death penalty, a coalition of faith, civil rights, conservative, and exonerated former death row groups argues public sentiment is moving away from executions.

Campaign director Laura Porter points to historic lows in new death sentences as evidence.

In a country of 348 million people, there will be less than 30 new death sentences in 2025.

There is no greater indicator of how Americans feel about the death penalty than in the jury room.

And juries are sending very few people to death row.

I'm Tramiel Gomes.

Next Kentucky lawmakers recommending the General Assembly ease regulations for housing developers and consider funding to incentivize housing and infrastructure construction as the state grapples with a significant housing shortage.

Tony Curtis is with the Metropolitan Housing Coalition in Louisville to see where investment needs to occur, where legislative action needs to occur from a housing supply side, but also from a regulatory side.

Curtis says there's a need for 206,000 housing units across the state projected in the next five years to jump as high as 280,000 units needed.

This story with original reporting by Liam Nymire for Kentucky Lantern.

This is Public News Service.

Next to Wisconsin where educators are shedding light on the unique dilemma rural school districts face as they work to meet a large portion of the state's student needs despite significant funding and resource uncertainty.

The state recently announced significant funding cuts for more than 300 school districts across the state, many of which are rural.

Jeff Eide with the Wisconsin Rural Schools Alliance says more cuts only exacerbate ongoing staffing issues, federal funding uncertainty and dwindling resources.

He says reduced funding and resources are forcing districts to make difficult choices.

We make decisions that have the best impact for kids and least impact on our school district in the end.

But that becomes just incredibly challenging when we haven't received as much of the funding.

ID says Wisconsin's established revenue limits further compound matters by creating inequities between districts.

The majority of school districts in Wisconsin are considered rural and serve more than 40 percent of the state's 860,000 public school students.

I'm Judith Ruiz Branch reporting.

And Missouri's drinking water has an unlikely guardian, a tiny, endangered fish found only in a cave system in Perryville.

The nearly matchstick-sized grotto sculpin depends on fragile underground streams, and the conservation fund stepped in just in time to protect its habitat by buying land at risk from St. Louis expansion.

Clint Miller with the conservation fund says protecting Missouri's rare cave systems isn't just about saving an endangered fish, it's also about protecting local drinking water.

The grotto sculpin is a bioindicator of the health of our environment, and in particular, in these cave systems, they are dependent on high water quality.

What happens on the surface of a cave really affects what goes on down below.

The property includes one of only two entrances to the Moore Cave System and is now managed by the Ozark Land Trust for Conservation and Education.

Other state and federal partners, private donors, and the Land and Water Conservation Fund are all supporting the project.

Crystal Blair reporting.

Finally, scam artists rarely take a doff, but they do shift to a higher gear the holiday season and seniors are often their favorite target.

Whether they want you to give them cash or steal your identity, calling for a scam can be emotionally painful and expensive.

Erin Morgan with AARP Maryland says if you don't know who is calling you, be extra careful.

Usually the contact comes from out of the blue.

There's urgency connected to the contact and there's a demand for money.

So what we say at AARP is that people need to pause, reflect and protect.

Morgan says con artists often use tricks like problems with delivering a package.

Mark Richardson reporting.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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