News from around the nation.

Netanyahu to meet with Trump Today for the first time since the Iran war began; a 6.8-magnitude earthquake hits Japan; Pennsylvania borrowers face new student loan repayment hurdles; North Carolina summer meals program fights hunger during hot weather; Sierra Nevada meadow restoration boosts the California drinking water supply.

Transcript

The Public News Service Tuesday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Today marks the seventh visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in Trump's second term, but only the first since U.S. and Iran launched the current U.S.-Iran war on February the 28th.

The Washington Post notes the two leaders plan to discuss the framework agreement the U.S. and Israel signed with Lebanon over the Israeli-Hezbollah war and the expansion of the Abraham Accords.

That's according to the White House.

Trump is also set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of today's funeral for Senator Lindsey Graham.

And a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck Japan's southern Kumamoto prefecture.

NHK reports many people are trapped after a shopping mall partially collapsed.

Meantime, Pennsylvania borrowers among millions nationwide, facing federal student loan changes as the cost of living continues to surge.

Pennsylvania's hold over $67 billion of the more than $1.7 trillion in U.S. student loan debt.

Tamar Hoffman with Community Legal Services says that under the Department of Education's new regulations, borrowers who have loans from before July 1, 2026 keep most of their old repayment options and can also use the new repayment assistance plan.

For many borrowers, the repayment assistance plan may be more expensive in terms of the monthly payments than the existing income-driven repayment plans.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.

Danielle Smith reporting.

And as thousands of children experience hunger during the summer months, food banks and local partners are working to fill the gap.

Summer break means that parents must come up with an additional 10 meals a week, even as costs for everything continue to rise.

The Kids' Summer Meals Program with the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina provides children with breakfast and lunch at locations across the region.

Shalise Henderson is with Turning Point Community Development Corporation and pastors the church Oasis of Hope Ministries.

She calls the program an answered prayer.

Each day, they're able to be assured that they're going to get a hot meal that they love.

They're able to get breakfast and the snacks as well from the Summer Meals Program.

One in five children across Central and Eastern North Carolina face food insecurity, totaling nearly 170,000 children.

I'm Simone Perez.

And this summer, a key restoration project is underway to improve California's drink and water supply.

Crews are restoring three miles of the West Walker River and its floodplains at Pickle Meadow, just north of Yosemite.

Sarah Hecox with the nonprofit American Rivers says crews will remove a berm left by Caltrans 20 years ago after a nearby landslide.

We're restoring the natural hydrology that allowed Sierra Meadows to thrive for thousands of years so the meadow can sustain itself with very little long-term intervention.

The amount of water available to the state depends on the high Sierra meadows that absorb snow melt and filter it into rivers and streams.

This is Public News Service.

Longer, hotter summers in the Sonoran Desert have prompted the city of Phoenix to counter the heat with new programs designed to give people without shelter safe places to go during the extremes.

Phoenix recently opened its first 24-hour shelter for unhoused people and has used a cold water immersion tank to treat severe heat stroke cases.

Elected officials to protect America's Christian Brock says federal help could assist the city in making more progress.

Federal funding for these facilities and services could help save more lives during extreme heat events.

But the actions by the current administration have hindered the climate crisis mitigation progress by putting people and their communities at higher risk.

The Trump administration has sought to roll back aid for extreme heat mitigation resources like cooling centers.

Federal lawmakers contend they're trying to right-size the nation's economy and root out alleged waste and fraud in social service programs.

I'm Mark Moran.

Next, we report on an Ohio mother who relies on the Home Community-Based Services Medicaid waiver.

Our Nanny Aramagon lets us know she's worried about how her family will manage after cuts to the federal program go into effect next year.

Sarah Bloom Anderson's 14-year-old daughter lives with a severe neurodevelopmental disability.

Anderson says the Medicaid waiver has allowed her daughter, who requires a wheelchair and feeding tube, to live at home and attend school.

We need a special aide to take care of her who is trained medically.

And if we did not have that care, my husband and I would not be able to work.

A new poll from the advocacy group Protect Our Care finds that nearly 70 percent of Americans nationwide, including those in key battleground states, oppose cuts to Medicaid.

This is Nadia Ramlagan for Ohio News Connection.

A new campaign called Sick of It Fix Healthcare Now has amplified voices across the Buckeye State, highlighting how communities are struggling with lack of access to affordable health care.

Finally, as Indiana families prepare for a new school year, doctors say backpacks and school supplies aren't the only essentials.

Our Joe Lurie reports, scheduling annual health appointments can identify problems before they interfere with learning.

Dr. Don Lyon at Indiana University School of Optometry says one area to watch closely is your child's vision.

There's a lot of vision conditions that they don't know that they have and the goal of those exams is we want to make sure that there are no barriers in their visual system that are keeping them from reaching their full academic potential.

Lyon says children with undiagnosed vision problems may struggle with develop headaches, or experience eye strain without realizing poor vision is the cause.

He says comprehensive eye exams look beyond whether a child simply needs glasses and can identify conditions that routine vision screenings often miss.

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

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