News from around the nation.

As Isaias strengthens, Florida counties prepare for heat and hurricanes, activists question Sig Sauer’s arms sales to Israeli military contractors, and Amtrak plans to introduce sleeker, cleaner trainsets across multiple U.S. routes.

Transcript

The Public News Service Thursday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Amid hot nights and climbing heat indexes, SAES has strengthened and is now the season's first hurricane.

As the storm strengthens, Florida's cities and counties are confronting the same question.

How do we prepare?

Today, Orange County will host a panel at Rollins College called From Heat to Hurricanes, Building a More Resilient Orange County.

It's one of the more than 130 Florida Climate Week events across the state.

Carrie Black is the county's chief sustainability and resilience officer.

She says the goal is to help residents understand what's shifting.

So just for people to be vigilant, especially with the heat, making sure that you're staying hydrated, seeing air conditioning, shade, partly that awareness that like this is a little bit different.

Even though it's Florida, it's hot, it's a little bit different.

And also we're not getting that kind of reprieve at night.

Black says the changes are statewide.

This summer, Orange County issued more than 20 heat advisories, and dengue fever has been detected in the region.

The panel starts at 6 p.m. and will be free and open to the public.

I'm Tramiel Gomes.

And some New Hampshire residents want to know what local arms manufacturer Sig Sauer is providing to Israeli military contractors, and if the weapons will be used to target civilians in the Middle East.

The company already has $95 million in contracts with the Department of War and has partnered with Israel Aerospace Industries to develop a new AI-powered armed drone.

Bob Sanders is Jewish and lives in Concord.

He says Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and he doesn't want these weapons being used in his name.

During the Holocaust, a lot of people looked the other way, didn't want to know.

And the weapons to kill these people are being made right here.

I guess I'm hoping people won't look away.

Sig Sauer has not specified how the drone will be used.

Public News Service requested an interview for this story but did not hear back.

New Hampshire Peace Action and other groups have organized a bike ride followed by a march from Market Square in Portsmouth to the company's headquarters on Saturday, October 10th.

I'm Katherine Carley.

Next Amtrak is rolling out a new fleet of cleaner, faster trains this fall, starting with the Pacific Northwest Cascades Corridor, which goes from Vancouver to Seattle, Portland, and Eugene.

Charlie Hamilton, who leads all aboard Washington, says improved hardware could help increase rail service in the region.

It's nice to be able to be going faster than people on the Interstate 5.

Crave once an hour would be very, very helpful.

And then the train sets would make it possible to do that.

The $8 billion aero fleet is expected to reduce trip times on multiple routes, though Amtrak did not say by how much.

The trains can reach speeds of up to 125 miles per hour.

Credit for original reporting goes to Brenton Graham with Grist.

This is Public News Service.

As industrial agriculture opponents are calling for more regulations on confined animal feeding operations, also known as CAFOs, one group is working to help farmers transition to a sustainable mindset.

The Transformation Project works with producers who are part of the industrial ag system, whether it be chickens or hogs, and help them move to less intensive practices.

Catherine Jernigan leads the initiative, and she describes her organization's efforts as a farmer-led movement dedicated to building a better food system, a movement that aims to make factory farming less of a force.

We exist to help them transition out of that way of farming and into farming something sustainably.

And that can look like farming mushrooms, farming fruits and vegetables, incorporating agritourism into their farm, any number of things.

One North Carolina farm used to raise half a million broiler chickens each year in four barns, but the Transformation Project helped the family convert just one barn into a greenhouse to raise specialty mushrooms.

I'm Zamone Perez.

Analysis from the project estimates farmers can make operating incomes of over $100,000 by raising specialty crops.

Next, the National Council on Aging estimates online scams are costing Michigan families more than $2 billion a year.

This comes as artificial intelligence gives bad actors new tools to make fake content look real.

The council is part of the national United to Stop Online Scams campaign.

The coalition is pushing technology companies and lawmakers to do more to stop fraudulent ads, including on social media.

Ebony White with the council says consumers should be wary of unsolicited messages and unfamiliar links.

She warns that one of the biggest red flags is how an offer is presented.

Anytime they want you to respond under urgency or fear, they're trying to get you to move and do some kind of action off of your emotions.

And so pause, ask questions if you've got somebody, say, hey, what do you think about this?

Crystal Blair reporting.

And a new law going into effect in January will allow more Coloradans to convert the state's 300 days of sunshine a year into the power needed to operate dishwashers, microwaves and refrigerators, anything that runs on electricity.

Traditional rooftop solar panels are large and costly to install, but new plug-in solar panels are much cheaper and they're small enough to be mounted on balconies or patios.

Roger Horowitz with the non-profit Solar United Neighbors says this new technology will allow people who don't own their homes to cut their energy bills using solar for the first time.

And instead of needing to get permits, instead of needing the electric company to approve your system and to do a lot of paperwork, the thing with plug-in solar is you can take these solar panels and you can plug them into an outlet at your house and you can save money right away.

I'm Eric Galatas.

This is Mike Clifford, fort Public News Service.

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