News from around the nation.

Three more Republicans back latest House vote to rein in Trump’s war powers, conservation groups protest a proposal to swap out land in Yosemite National Park, and a new West Virginia collaborative aims to better regulate data centers.

Transcript

The Public News Service Wednesday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Three more Republicans crossed the aisle telling President Donald Trump to stop as the U.S. House voted for the third time Tuesday to block the president from taking further military action against Iran.

The vote 220 to 204, with seven Republicans in all breaking with Trump to send a symbolic rebuke of the president over the largely unpopular war.

Yahoo News notes that three new Republicans who voted yes were Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina, plus Iowa Representatives Marionette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn.

They joined the four Republicans who supported the previous two resolutions to limit Trump's war powers in June and July.

Meantime, California lawmakers are leading the charge against a proposed land swap that would allow a road to be built in Yosemite National Park, connecting it with a planned development just over the park border.

More than 150 lawmakers, including Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, just wrote to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, arguing that national parks should not be carved up for private interests.

Lanny Davis, an attorney for the developer Kings Barn Realty Capital, says he's negotiating with park officials to build a road through a few acres in the park to connect their property with Highway 120.

David Wilms with the National Wildlife Federation says the acreage is not the point.

And who knows if the next proposal would be larger or not.

The developer has not released specific plans, but has considered building a resort with a lodge and cabins in the past.

I'm Suzanne Potter.

And community over computers.

That's the slogan of a new West Virginia collaborative formed in opposition to the state's rapid data center development.

Arnady Romligan lets us know last year House Bill 2014 signed into law by the governor there, Patrick Morrissey, created a certified microgrid and high-impact data center program designed to fast-track construction and remove local zoning control.

Morgan King with West Virginia Citizen Action Group says communities are fighting back after being stripped of their right to ensure new projects protect public and environmental health.

Every community is really united in making sure that data centers and these corporations are accountable to what their promises are.

We've just really not seen that happen so far.

Around two dozen large-scale data center projects have been proposed or planned across the Mountain State, with two major projects officially certified in Mason County.

The West Virginia Data Center Accountability Project seeks to hold these projects to certain environmental standards.

And voting rights advocates in Massachusetts say the Supreme Court's rejection of the Trump administration's attempt to restrict mail ballots is a major win for democracy.

Celia Canavan is the executive director of the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts.

This power remains in the Congress and within the states, and the United States Postal Service also does not have the right to change mail-in voting processes.

The justice has left in place a preliminary injunction that prevents the U.S.

Postal Service from withholding mail ballots from states that refuse to upload personal voter data to a new and untested online portal.

This is Public News Service.

A new report from the American Indian College Fund and the Brookings Institute finds tribal colleges and universities are delivering strong returns for their communities.

But inconsistent federal and philanthropic funding make it harder for these schools to plan for long-term success.

The report says federal funding for tribal campuses fell by more than 7% over the past decade, while philanthropic giving remains limited and unpredictable.

The college fund's Cheryl Crazy Bowl says in general, the findings show significant evidence of chronic underfunding by the federal government, despite trust and treaty obligations.

She feels there are lost opportunities for Native communities to work past historical inequities.

You can't really have this self-determination in the Native community without being a culturally grounded, well-educated person.

I'm Judith Rui's branch reporting.

Next, New Yorkers in the nation feel they're paying the price for federal corruption.

A new Navigator Research poll finds 81% of Americans believe government corruption raises prices, with many pointing to elected officials who allow waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer money and who protect large corporations that price gouge consumers.

The perception of corruption among elected officials is a bipartisan problem, according to Tina Tang with Navigator Research.

About 70% of Americans felt that Washington had a major corruption problem.

So this wasn't confined necessarily to Democrats or to Republicans.

They really did see this as a Washington problem, a bipartisan problem, as opposed to just one party or just Trump.

Despite this, the poll finds almost half of people across partisan boundaries consider President Donald Trump and his family more corrupt than billionaires and CEOs or congressional Republicans.

The data show desired solutions include banning unfair price hikes during emergencies or shortages, capping hidden fees, and banning companies from using personal data to charge consumers different costs for the same items.

I'm Edwin J. Viera.

And finally, a crucial federal law providing for the maintenance of America's public lands expired last year.

Now environmental groups are urging the Congress to restore it.

Both House and Senate committees have passed a reauthorization of the Legacy Restoration Fund.

Leaving floor votes is the next step.

President Donald Trump signed the bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act in 2020, which established the fund.

Rebecca boost to the environment and to the outdoor economy.

LRF has funded more than 1,600 projects across the country.

The Great American Outdoors Act Legacy Restoration Fund was estimated to support an average of 17,000 jobs and contribute $2 billion to the U.S. economy.

She adds that in 2024, 332 million visits to national parks contributed an estimated $56 billion and more than 340,000 jobs to the U.S. economy.

I'm Mark Richardson.

This is Mike Clifford, for Public News Service.

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