News from around the nation.

Epstein survivors urge Congress to release all the files on the sex trafficker; NYC nurses: Private hospitals can do more to protect patient care; Report: Social media connects Southern teens but barriers remain; Voters in NC, U.S. want term limits for Congressional lawmakers.

Transcript

The Public News Service Friday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Two women who say they were sexually assaulted by Jeffrey Epstein urged Congress to compel the Justice Department to release all of the files on the accused sex trafficker, whose powerful friends include President Donald Trump.

That from NBC News.

The report, Liz Stein and Jess Michaels made these comments during an NBC News interview Thursday where they were joined by the freshly minted representative, Adelita Grajava of Arizona.

In time, The Guardian reports Trump has cranked up his intense pressure campaign on congressional Republicans to oppose the full release of the Epstein files before a crucial and long-awaited House vote on the matter next week that scores of Republicans are currently slated to support.

Next, this has been what New York City nurses call a week of action as they urge private hospitals to do more to protect patient care.

The push comes amid concerns about growing health insurance costs as well as cuts to federal health care programs that begin late next year are worried about increasing reliance on artificial intelligence to perform tasks they typically do.

Dinesh Forbes is a registered nurse in Mount Sinai's intensive care unit.

She says investments in new technologies must be paired with an equal investment in nursing staffs.

Staffing issues have always been ongoing, but now we're seeing they do want to use other machinery to watch patients, to care for their safety, which is not working because we still need to be there.

Reports show hospitals statewide fail to staff their ICUs and critical care patients at state-mandated ratios more than half the time between January and October of last year.

I'm Edwin J. Viera.

And in Georgia and across the South, social media has become a vital space for teens to connect, express themselves and learn about mental health.

But a new report points to an important shortcoming.

The non-profit Hope Lab finds that while online platforms often help young people find community and encouragement, barriers to mental health care and stigma still prevent many from getting the support they need.

Hope Lab researcher Michael Parent says his group looked at how youth in the South experience mental health and technology compared with peers in other parts of the country.

Parent says the promise of online support depends on geography and some Southern teens struggle to connect at all.

There still exists some kind of logistical barriers.

Much more of the country is now covered by broadband Wi-Fi, but there are still a lot of regions, particularly in the rural South, where broadband Wi-Fi is not easily available.

High-speed internet connectivity is still a problem so you can really engage in telehealth services.

Shantia Hudson reporting.

Next more North Carolinians and people nationwide want term limits on Congress.

Polls show 83 percent of people across the state and party lines support it.

Scott Tillman with U.S. Term Limits cites former lobbyist Jack Abraham as to why it's challenging to impose term limits on Congress.

Once you've got a legislator on your side you spent that money and put in the time it's worth more than gold because they're with you and you can bring them other stuff and do other things.

More than 150 congressional lawmakers have pledged to sponsor and vote for the U.S. term limits amendment.

It limits House members to three two-year terms and senators to two six-year terms.

This is public news service. 45 percent of renters in Kentucky are cost burdened and many live with the threat of eviction according to new data.

Research shows people facing eviction are more likely to face depression, anxiety, and use of prescription medication and enforce physical health and premature death.

Average monthly eviction cases between 2022 and 2024 peaked at nearly 3,600.

Hannah McCarty with Kentucky Youth Advocates, the group that compiled the data, says experiencing eviction leaves a lasting imprint on children.

Children and households facing eviction experience challenges to their educational attainment.

They're more likely to have to switch schools or school districts.

It's also associated with increased absences and lost construction time.

The state is facing a severe housing shortage which is partially driving up rents and many households are paying more than 30 percent of their income on housing.

In 2024 Kentucky was short more than 206,000 homes and this is projected to increase to nearly 290,000 by 2029.

This is Nadia Romlegon.

Next an environmental group is warning Tennesseans about the EPA's approval of a new PFAS based pesticide for use in farming, lawns and crops such soybeans and lettuce.

More than 73 million Americans face unsafe levels of these toxic substance in their drinking water according to the Natural Resources Defense Council and Tennessee test water for 29 of these toxins.

Nathan Donley with the Center for Biological Diversity says the Trump administration has no plan to address increasingly toxic pesticides.

He adds that there are no safeguards for PFAS-based pesticides being used on crops and produce, which he says are harming the environment.

A lot of these are used on things like corn and soy.

We grow a hundred million acres of both those crops each year in the United States, so that gives you a sense of the scope that we're talking about here.

Hundreds of millions of acres of land potentially could be sprayed with these pesticides.

Danielle Smith reporting.

Finally, a program is helping families in North Carolina who are struggling to experience the joy of Christmas.

The Salvation Army of Wake and Lee Counties has partnered with Coastal Credit Union on the Angel Tree Program.

The project allows people to adopt an angel and provide support to a local child in need.

Area Commander Major Lorena Crawford with the Salvation Army of Wake and Lee Counties says the program had about 8,000 children register this year.

We try to provide a whole entire outfit for the children and three toys.

So we ask corporations to help us, churches, smaller businesses.

We put up an angel tree at Crabtree Mall and then we have online site where people can get angels from there.

Coastal Credit Union is hosting the program at all of its branches.

I'm Eric Tagethoff reporting.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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