News from around the nation.

Progressive Graham Platner Vigilance wins Maine Democratic Senate Primary; Trump posts that Iran is “taking too long”; Vigilance is needed by New Mexicans after screwworm crosses the Texas border; New Georgia law expands PrEP, HIV prevention access to pharmacies; and a hearing this week on a California bill to allow plug-in portable solar panels.

Transcript

This is the Public News Service Wednesday afternoon update, I'm Mike Clifford.

Progressive Democrat Graham Plattner defeated Maine Governor Janet Mills to win the state's Democratic Senate primary Tuesday night.

Plattner, a veteran and now an oyster farmer, has advocated for government-funded health care, a wealth tax, and free education.

He will now face Republican Senator Susan Collins in November in a state that some say could determine the balance of power in the Senate.

And President Donald Trump posted on social media Wednesday that Iran has taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them.

Now they will have to pay the price.

The Hill notes Trump also shared a clip from the series The West Wing dismissing the concept of a proportional response after the U.S. had launched a new round of strikes in Iran and retaliation for an attack on an Apache helicopter.

Meantime, be alert and inspect your animals.

That's the advice for New Mexico ranchers after a dog in Leah County was confirmed to have been infected by a dangerous parasite.

The New World screwworm has infected three calves and a goat in three Texas counties, hundreds of miles away.

Officials now say the New Mexico dog was likely infected after it traveled through Texas.

NMSU professor Caleb Hubbard has been raising public awareness about a possible outbreak since last year, when infections were reported across the border in Mexico.

The only way that we're going to be able to isolate and stop these cases from spreading is if people are reporting it so that then we can have an appropriate response.

Due to concerns about the parasite creeping northward, the U.S. halted live cattle crossing the Mexico border last July.

I'm Roz Brown.

Next, pharmacists in Georgia will soon have more flexibility in providing medications designed to prevent HIV.

A new law kicks in July 1, but advocates say the real work is just beginning.

Eric Rangel is the executive director of Latino Link, a Latinx LGBTQ organization that provides free HIV testing.

He says there are still too many unanswered questions.

Which pharmacies are going to participate in this?

You know, is it all pharmacies?

Is it particularly with Walgreens?

So is it with the Walmart pharmacies?

How is this looking like exactly?

And which each pharmacy, do they have the staffing and the capabilities?

The law leaves many details to the Georgia State Board of Pharmacy.

I'm Tramiel Gomes.

And a new bill in California would streamline approvals for small portable solar panels that could be plugged into a regular outlet.

Regina Banks with the Lutheran Office of Public Policy in California is among those appearing today before the Senate Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee.

Utilities seem to be opposing it just because they don't want anything that would reduce the amount that you have to pay to utilities.

They also generally like to control all the power.

Assembly Bill 868, which has already passed the state senate, would make sure that utility companies can't charge a fee or require a connection agreement for so-called balcony solar kits.

This is Public News Service.

Later on this summer, the U.S. Senate expected to dig deeper into the next farm bill following House approval back in April.

A farmer in Minnesota Soto hopes politics stays out of the final push and fairness for non-corporate operations is a priority.

James Conney is a dairy farmer from Renville County who recently traveled to Washington, D.C. to push for certain provisions in the sprawling agricultural policy.

He says the process in recent years has become so fraught with partisan approaches that smaller independent operations like his are left fighting for scraps.

We're just playing whack-a-mole.

We're just trying to back down the biggest of the problems and to support maybe one or two things that we can add to the farm bill that would be a positive.

In the Senate version, he'd like to see language that compels federal agencies to enforce existing antitrust rules covering agriculture.

In defending their version, House Republicans say it bolsters risk management for food producers.

I'm Mike Moen.

Next, government officials and researchers argue that state and federal policy shifts will exacerbate family instability in Ohio and bring more kids into the state's child protection system.

Arnadia Ramagan lets us know they point to federal cuts to safety net programs, new state matching requirements, and Ohio's new Medicaid anti-fraud legislation as the source of the problem.

Fawn Goodell runs the Ohio START program for the Public Children's Services Association of Ohio.

She says her agency is focused on providing support funds to parents struggling with substance use so they can keep their children safe while they recover.

START has recently implemented a new funding stream for stability supports to support the families that are participating in Ohio START.

Expenses that are meant to help prevent the removal of kids from their home or reduce barriers to reunification.

Finally, the Snoqualimli Indian Tribe in Washington State is wrapping up a project designed to identify and reduce the effects of drought within the nearby river basin.

The basin, located east of Seattle, is in its fourth consecutive year of drought, and climate change models predict they'll become more common.

Matt Berwald, Senior Environmental Policy Analyst for the Snoqualmie Tribe, says their analysis shows the river itself is the most impacted by drought.

By far, the greatest need is for river ecology in terms of the amount of water that is absent or retined.

When we look at the relative amount of water, the loss of snowpack is just clearly the biggest threat.

He says protecting the river's flow, which is impacted by the diminished snowpack, is vital for endangered salmon, other fish, and everything else living in the floodplain.

I'm Isobel Charle.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service, member and listener supported, find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.