News from around the nation.

Trump vows immigration crackdown after shooting of 2 National Guard members in DC; In rural MN, mental health care is scarce for BIPOC residents; NYC office cleaners worry about job future under new contractor; Child advocates, pediatricians warn AI toys unsafe for kids.

Transcript

The Public News Service Thursday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

As we file this newscast, CNN reports two members of the West Virginia National Guard are in critical condition after being shot yesterday in Washington, D.C. in what President Trump condemns an act of terror.

The suspect now identified as Ramakala Lankankwal, an Afghan national who came to the U.S. in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome and granted asylum in April.

CNN reports the Trump administration has halted processing similar cases of Afghan immigrants indefinitely, as the president makes the case for an even more intense immigration crackdown.

Trump has asked for 500 more National Guard troops to be deployed to DC, even as the legal battle over the original deployment continues.

Meantime, finding a mental health provider in rural areas is hard, but Minnesota researchers say it's much harder for communities of color in small towns.

The Center for Rural Policy and Development says rural communities across the state are becoming more diverse.

But the center's latest report says there's still little awareness about the mental health needs of people of color in these areas.

Lack of insurance, stigma, and trust issues are factors that complicate the issue.

Vice president of research, Marty Werner, says refugee and immigrant populations also tend to be isolated from their small town neighbors.

And so if you have a group of people who aren't in constant communication with everybody else, They may not know about or learn about things as quickly as the general population.

That means some people may not know about a new mental health provider in town.

I'm Mike Moen.

Next to New York City, where some office cleaners are fighting for fair work benefits with their new building services contract.

Cleaners at 373 and 381 Park Avenue South now work with planned building services, which says it's cutting salaries by 26 percent, canceling health benefits and ending immigration legal assistance benefits.

Dennis Johnston with 32BJ SEIU says new building owners usually maintain the union contracts terms because it's in their best interest.

There is a social contract between building owners that understand good wages and benefits leads to a committed, dedicated workforce of essential frontline workers who are looking out for the best interests of the tenants and the building owner every single day.

The company's proposal comes as New York City rents hit record highs and insurance premiums nationwide will see the largest increases in decades and workers won't have salaries to accommodate these growing costs.

I'm Edwin J. Viera.

And a child advocacy group is urging parents not to buy AI toys for their kids this holiday season.

A growing number of action fingers, dolls, and stuffed animals are embedded with chat bots using AI to communicate with kids like a trusted friend and mimic human emotions.

Rachel Franz is with the Boston-based nonprofit, Fair Play.

Right now there is no research and no regulations that are in place to protect kids from the multitude of potential harms that can come from AI toys.

It says the toys are being marketed with a promise of safety, despite evidence of potential harm.

This is public news service.

Alabama's new Direct Admissions Initiative is giving high school seniors a clearer and more confident start to the college process.

The statewide platform launched this summer and allows students to build a profile and receive direct admission offers from participating colleges submitting traditional applications or essays.

Counselors say the change has made college feel more accessible for many students.

And senior Isaac DeBose at Ben C. Rain High School says seeing those early offers helped him understand what opportunities were already within reach.

It really gave me a confidence boost.

I started applying to other colleges that weren't included in the initiative.

And I was able to accumulate just from that a total of $471,000 in scholarship offers.

The platform matches students with two and four year colleges based on their transcript and academic interests, then delivers admission and scholarship offers directly inside the system.

Shantia Hudson reporting.

Next, plastic foodware has become a mainstay in school cafeterias, but one Massachusetts school district is reaping the rewards of going plastic free.

Bedford Public Schools replaced more than 260,000 single use foam trays with ones made of reusable stainless steel, eliminating close to three tons of waste while saving the district nearly $12,000 in less than a year.

Dr. Manasa Mantrabati is a board-certified pediatrician and founder of the stainless steel foodware company Ahimsa.

She says schools are giving their cafeterias a makeover in the interest of student health.

"While we can't get rid of it all, this is a very specific actionable item that parents and schools can do to mitigate the risks of plastics."

She says the chemicals in plastics have been shown to interfere with children's hormones, growth and brain development.

Stainless steel is the only kid-friendly material recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

I'm Katherine Carley.

Finally, Florida professors are sounding the alarm over a new state rule requiring them to post their course syllabi publicly online years in advance.

The Florida Board of Governors says the policy passed unanimously will help students make informed decisions.

While some faculty see it as a non-issue, John Wesley White, a professor of education at the University of North Florida, says many of his colleagues see it as a form of surveillance.

Many faculty, including myself, see this as another attempt by Florida to monitor what faculty are doing and to kind of have a eyeglass on what we're doing.

And context is important here because one of the things that people seem to be forgetting is our syllabi at public universities have always been public.

White believes the true intent is to allow outside groups to scrutinize course content.

Faculty syllabi have historically been available through individual university websites or public college catalogs.

Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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