News from around the nation.

Border czar plans for eventual drawdown of immigration agents in Minnesota; CA nonprofit helps Eaton Fire victims recover, one year later; NM residents living near CAFOs lack health insurance; CT groups call on lawmakers to pass climate 'superfund' bill.

Transcript

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

White House Borders R. Tom Homan addressed the press in Minneapolis after being sent to take the reins on the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in Minnesota.

Homan says he will be staying until the problem is gone, and he has ordered federal immigration authorities to work on a drawdown plan for law enforcement in the state.

That from CNN.

They report the administration is said to be considering new guidelines for federal immigration officers in Minnesota, including plans to avoid engaging with agitators and only targeting immigrants with convictions or facing criminal charges.

Officials familiar with the talks told CNN.

Next to California where the Eaton fire broke through Altadena about a year ago, leaving behind properties contaminated by toxic pollutants.

Our Suzanne Potter reports local groups continue to help families pick up the pieces.

The fire displaced more than 22,000 people and destroyed close to 10,000 structures, many in historically black neighborhoods.

Heavenly Hughes with the non-profit My Tribe Rise says their bridge financing program has been a lifeline.

We have given out nearly 1 million dollars directly to survivors to help them have some sense of stability when it comes to housing after losing their homes and livelihoods.

She adds that 60 percent of the community is still displaced.

Advocates say they're also concerned by instances where contaminated soil has been used in new builds.

And large cattle feeding operations are known to have a negative effect on air quality.

And a study shows New Mexicans who live near CAFOs are less likely to have health insurance.

A huge number of cattle in one place stirs up a lot of dust.

And that particulate matter can penetrate the lungs and bloodstream, posing significant health risks.

Professor Benjamin Goldstein at the University of Michigan participated in a study that looked at 15,000 cow and pig farms around the US.

Data from Texas, Kansas, and New Mexico stood out.

So we looked at where are there high amounts of cattle farms with high percentage of people that are uninsured.

And sure enough, Eastern New Mexico, that co-location of cattle feeding operations and high levels of uninsured people.

New Mexico has about 160 cattle CAFOs, mostly dairy farms around areas like Clovis and Roswell.

I'm Roz Brown.

And Connecticut groups are rallying support for a statewide climate super fund bill.

It finds large-scale greenhouse gas contributors and uses the collected funds to support statewide climate resilience.

Julie Anna LaRue with the Sierra Club Connecticut chapter described some of the projects this would fund.

Whether that's building bridges to fortify them, to make them stronger against climate-related weather, rebuilding bridges or rebuilding roads, making sure that municipalities have the resources to rebuild after storms.

Nearby Vermont and New York passed similar laws, which the federal government and fossil fuel companies are now challenging in court.

This is public news service.

As President Donald Trump continues to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, thousands of black women in Indiana and nationwide are losing their jobs.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the unemployment rate for black women increased nearly one and a half percent from January to December of last year.

That includes thousands in federal rolls laid off due to budget cuts to cover living expenses.

Many of these workers must apply for full or partial government assistance.

Employment attorney Chiquita Hall Jackson believes economic uncertainty and job losses linked to Trump's orders have hit black women the hardest.

The government is number one employer of black people, including black women

If the government is controlled by this administration, especially for employment, and they come in and wipe out positions, will buy out the force of retirement and ultimately fire and imprison black people in their roles, especially leadership roles.

This is where we land.

I'm Terry Dee reporting.

And you probably noticed tax season has arrived.

And with recent changes, free services like those provided by the AARP Foundation in Idaho could be even more important than recent years.

The foundation's tax aid program offers in-person help to people with low and moderate incomes of all ages.

Karen Cummings is the tax aid state coordinator for AARP Idaho.

She says recent changes to the tax code from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by Congress last year could increase demand as people figure out how the new rules apply to them.

Taxpayers that earn tips, taxpayers that earn overtime, and those can be very very convoluted and confusing and so we are going to be here to help them get through that and prepare their tax return.

It's a lot to take in and there's a lot of changes this year.

Most sites in the state will begin offering their services at the beginning of February.

I'm Eric Tegetoff reporting.

Finally to West Virginia where lawmakers are working on a bipartisan bill that would tap into state rainy day funds to help improve local water infrastructure and drinking water quality.

The Coalfield Clean Water Act would provide a one-time $150 million investment to municipalities for water treatment, maintenance and upgrades.

That's a small price to pay for the economic and public health impacts associated with safe drinking water, says Reverend Caitlin Ware, a pastor at United Methodist Church.

"If we cannot get safe drinking water into communities, you're losing fire services, you're losing businesses, you're losing residents.

You don't have economic development if you don't have safe drinking water.

Many residents drive up to 20 minutes to collect spring water and continue to report tap water appearing orange or black in color.

This is Nadia Ramlagan for West Virginia News Service.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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