News from around the nation.

A missing-person investigation involving a national TV anchor underscores broader concerns about trust and vulnerability, as states move to curb crypto scams, phase out the penny, rethink youth justice and grapple with economic pressure affecting newsrooms, food access, workers and schools across the country.

Transcript

The Public News Service, Thursday, February 5th, 2026, afternoon update.

I'm Farah Siddiqui.

Today, co-anchor Savannah Guthrie has issued a tearful public plea for information about her missing mother, Nancy Guthrie.

In an emotional video posted online, Guthrie asked anyone with information to come forward, saying her family needs proof she is alive.

As investigators search for answers in Arizona, concerns about trust and vulnerability also shaping policy debates across the country.

In Wisconsin, lawmakers are weighing new protections aimed at stopping scammers from exploiting emerging financial technology.

Mark Richardson has details.

Police say scammers have taken millions of dollars from Wisconsin seniors.

Erin Fabrizius with AARP Wisconsin says the crooks use high-pressure tactics to get people to remove their savings from the bank.

They're getting people to deposit those U.S. dollars is then converted to cryptocurrency and the scammer can move it down the blockchain and it can be out of the country in minutes.

The measure, Senate Bill 386, would set daily transaction limits and cap fees.

It would also require operators to provide receipts, identify users in all transactions, and require refunds for scam victims.

The bipartisan measure will get a hearing today before the Senate Finance Committee at the Capitol in Madison.

And while some states are cracking down on financial abuse, others are adjusting to changes in the money itself.

Crystal Blair in this Michigan Independent Michigan News Connection collaboration.

There were only six months between the Department of Treasury's announcement and the Mint's production of its last penny in November of last year.

Andrew Beardsley with the Michigan Retailers Association says businesses aren't opposed to the change, they just want clarity on how to move forward.

The obvious thing to do would be what Canada did, which was to round to the nearest nickel.

The problem for Michigan retailers that there's not a lot of clarity from the federal government on whether that's acceptable.

The cost of manufacturing a single penny has more than doubled in the last decade.

This story was produced with original reporting from Alyssa Burr for the Michigan Independent.

Beyond dollars and cents, states are also reassessing how their systems treat the most vulnerable, including children.

Connecticut Justice Alliance 2025 Annual Report finds the state invested more resources in alternatives to court involvement in youth incarceration.

Christina Quaranta with the Alliance says there are other areas where the state has fallen short.

We were looking to raise the minimum age so the child could be arrested to the age of 14, 'cause right now Connecticut is 10.

We were going to go in sort of a phased-in approach, have it raised to 12 and then 14, and be able to study the impact of that, make sure services were available.

She says feedback on that provision was widely supported as having potential benefits for the state.

Other reports find it costs almost $215,000 a year to imprison a child, compared to $19,000 for them to get a public education.

I'm Edwin J. Viera.

This is Public News Service.

The Washington Post, the 150-year-old newspaper, announced layoffs affecting approximately one-third of its workforce.

The layoffs come as many households are also facing mounting economic pressure nationwide.

New data show hunger is at record levels in Oregon and Southwest Washington, with one in seven adults and one in six children facing food insecurity.

Oregon Food Bank says visits to food pantries have jumped more than 50 percent in the past two years.

Speaking today in Salem, the group's president, Andrea Williams, warned that even brief disruptions in food assistance can quickly push families into crisis.

We all remember what it was like last October, November, when SNAP was delayed, when over 700,000 Oregonians suddenly didn't have money on their EBT card to go to the grocery store, and what a crisis and catastrophe that was.

Williams says lawmakers can help prevent disruptions by investing in the state's SNAP system.

The Food for All Oregonians Coalition is urging funding for technology upgrades and staffing at the Department of Human Services to help keep benefits flowing as demand rises.

Economic pressure is also fueling renewed debates over worker power and protections in state legislatures.

Virginia labor advocates are calling on the General Assembly to pass a bill that would repeal the state's 80-year-old "Right to Work" law.

Passed in the 1940s, the law restricts workplaces from requiring or collecting union dues as a condition of employment.

Senate Bill 32 would repeal the law, which labor advocates argue weakens unions and the state.

Kayla Mock with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400 says the policy results in open shops, where workers who don't pay union dues still receive the same benefits as those who do.

I have to represent all of the workers equally.

Whether they pay dues or not, it really stretches their resources because they're representing and providing benefits to folks who don't pay into the system.

Opponents of the repeal argue the law protects workers from being forced to financially support a union and gives them freedom to choose.

I'm Zamone Perez.

And finally, amid concerns about stress, distraction and wellbeing, some schools are testing a simpler solution, putting the phones away.

Catherine Carley has the story.

Cooper Marshall is the assistant principal at Camden Hills Regional High School in Rockport, Maine.

He says students there are looking up.

Kids seem happy at lunch when they're chatting with each other. during passing time when they're walking the halls and engaging with people.

And it doesn't seem like kids are missing out on using it.

He notes a dramatic decline in school vandalism and vaping violations since the new phone-free policy began last year, and that kids seem to be making less impulsive decisions.

Maine Governor Janet Mills called for a statewide full-day ban on student cell phone use during her recent State of the State address, following the lead of at least 25 other states.

This story with original reporting by Drew Himmelstein with Midcoast Villager.

This is Farah Siddiqui for Public News Service, member and listener supported

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