News from around the nation.

Collins and Jackson face off in Maine’s first Senate debate, the Trump administration's immigration policies are linked to increased psychological harm in US children, and drought conditions and rising fuel costs could impact Mississippi's waterfowl hunting season.

Transcript

The Public News Service Wednesday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

It was the first debate ahead of midterms in the pivotal state of Maine.

On Tuesday night, the longtime incumbent Susan Collins clashed with her Democratic challenger, Troy Jackson.

The New York Times notes Jackson repeatedly attacked Collins over her vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who voted to overturn Roe v.

Wade.

Jackson accused her of not pushing back strongly enough against Trump's agenda.

He said, would you trust her to select the next Supreme Court justice?

Collins defended her record, saying, I have been the most outspoken opponent of tariffs with Canada.

Canada is not China.

It is our neighbor, our friend, our closest ally, and our biggest trading partner.

Collins added, I've been working behind the scenes and was successful in getting concrete pulp and rolled salt removed from the tariff list.

Meantime, groups that help immigrant families are speaking out against the Trump administration's policies, calling them a comprehensive assault on children's well-being.

The Trump administration says it has deported more than 605,000 undocumented people since 2025.

According to reporting from KFF Health News, data show that one in four American children lives with an immigrant parent and that more than 205,000 U.S.-born children have seen at least one parent detained by immigration authorities since President Trump returned to office.

Norma Gomez with the Mixteco Indígena Community Organizing Project in Ventura County says many kids are living in fear.

Kids are hurting because either they've lost their father or mother or both.

I'm Suzanne Potter.

Credit goes to Claudia Boyd-Barnett for original reporting on this story for KFF Health News.

And conservationists in Mississippi say drought conditions, rising fuel costs, and fewer farmers planting rice in the state could have an impact on this year's waterfowl hunting season.

During the winter months, farmers and landowners typically flood their harvested rice fields to attract migratory birds.

The Mississippi Flyway is one of the busiest bird migration corridors in North America, Ryan Delaney with the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership says many rice farmers have filed for bankruptcy and rice production in the state has decreased from several hundred thousand acres to just around 100,000 acres.

We have concerns that we would not be able to support as much waterfowl habitat this year and that would limit the amount of opportunities potentially for duck hunters to experience quality hunts.

I'm Freda Ross reporting.

Next to Florida on a farm in Hardy County where dead citrus trees are subjected to high heat and out comes biochar, a black charcoal-like substance that holds water and nutrients that can be worked back into the soil.

Zach Farr is the president of Biotech Applied Research, the non-profit behind the project.

For every acre of citrus trees, we're emitting about 11 tons of CO2 when we burn them.

That CO2 does have carbon that we could use, so rather than burn the carbon, we can store that carbon.

The live demonstration is for Volo Foundation's Florida Climate Week.

This is Public News Service.

A regulatory case in Minnesota is drawing a lot of attention.

It's related to tribal sovereignty and the pursuit of clean energy.

The Public Utilities Commission recently found that Minnesota Valley Cooperative Light and Power Association acted unlawfully by threatening to disconnect the Upper Sioux community over its behind-the-meter solar and battery project.

Despite the outcome, Hudson Kingston, with the rule-focused group Cure, says a leftover issue is whether tribal governments have the right to switch utilities.

He says the commission didn't make a call on that question.

It's very unfortunate because utilities are risk-averse, and without that sort of clear certainty, there is ambiguity.

He suggests that could make it harder for all of Minnesota's tribal governments wanting to pursue renewables and still partner with a receptive utility.

Kingston also expects the PUC outcome to be challenged by the cooperative.

I'm Mike Moen.

And ICE agents arrested more than 400 people in Indiana last month.

Many Hoosiers question if the agents will appear at polling sites in the state and across the country at the midterms.

Speaking on an American community media panel recently, some voting rights activists representing Asian, indigenous, black, and Hispanic populations discussed President Donald Trump's hints of placing ICE agents and military personnel at voting locations near or in their neighborhoods.

President and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice John Yang says he does not want to minimize voters' uneasiness and says there are ways voters can respond if encountered by an ICE agent.

One of the things that generally you can do is just simply ask, am I being detained?

I am being stopped for some reason.

And unless they give you a clear reason for being stopped, you can always ask, am I free to go?

I'm Terry Dee reporting.

Finally, Colorado voters get to decide whether the state constitution should be amended to prioritize hunting over all other wildlife management tools.

Proponents of Amendment 83 on the November ballot say it would protect hunting rights, a practice integral to the state's heritage, cultural identity, and economy.

Aubyn Royal, with the Humane World for Animals Colorado chapter, says she's especially alarmed by the measure's explicit protection of traditional methods.

She says if passed, it would be much harder to restrict trophy hunting, bear baiting, trapping, or chasing wildlife with dogs.

These practices do cause suffering to wildlife, and in some cases, Colorado voters have already outlawed these practices as unsupporting and unethical.

A right to hunt should never become a constitutional shield for cruelty.

Supporters maintain that the right to hunt and fish should not be subject to any future laws, ballot initiatives, or Wildlife Commission preferences.

I'm Eric Galatas.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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