Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Trump posts another AI image with Jesus; a Colorado bill could impact prescription drug affordability; a report says many New York City schools are not complying with a class size law; and a new ranking of the most endangered rivers in America.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, April the 16th, 2026.

I'm Mike Clifford.

President Donald Trump is not giving up on stoking his fight with the Roman Catholic Church.

Trump posted an image of Jesus embracing him on Wednesday.

Reuters notes the image shows Trump with his eyes closed, touching temple to temple, with the simile he posed, Jesus.

A bill making its way through the state legislature would limit the Colorado Prescription Drug Affordability Board's ability to rein in drug prices.

Our Ecolatus reports Senate Bill 26-140 would bar the board from reviewing hundreds of commonly prescribed drugs initially developed to treat rare diseases.

Fort Collins resident and two-time childhood cancer survivor Danielle Duchateau relies on some of these medicines to treat ongoing chronic conditions.

She says the measure would make it much harder for the Affordability Board to do its job.

It's really the only tool that we have to reduce medication costs.

So for me personally and many others, it would be wonderful to continue to give the Affordability Board a chance to work.

The Affordability Board, created in 2021, set its first upper payment limit for the rheumatoid arthritis drug Enbrel last year, a move projected to save Coloradans around $38 million a year.

I'm Eric Galatas.

Next, an Urban Institute report finds New York City public schools vary in compliance with the city's class size law.

The law capsizes for all grades at all schools at 25 students and requires full compliance by the 2027-2028 school year.

But the report notes only 64 percent of the city's public schools are complying.

Jay Carter with the Urban Institute says a big challenge is needing to hire so many new teachers to keep up with the mandate.

Once you hire a teacher, you pay them sort of forever.

This is like an in perpetuity thing.

So if you spend $450 million on new teachers last year specifically for class size, you just got to do that again this year and next year and next year.

The city has already invested $640 million in schools to comply with the law, but the report estimates it will take almost $2 billion more to hire 17,000 new teachers and reach full compliance.

Carter notes this will be challenging, especially as other data show the state is facing a multi-decade teacher shortage with no end in sight.

I'm Edwin J. Viera.

And in California, health care advocates are asking state lawmakers to protect transgender rights in face of opposition from the Trump administration.

Arela Cuellar is with the California LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network.

She says a million dollars would be used to help keep transgender care covered under Medi-Cal.

So it would enable the Department of Health Care Services to establish a state-only Medi-Cal billing and reimbursement pathway for gender-affirming care.

Many people spoke at a recent joint budget hearing on access to gender-affirming care in California asking for a $26 million budget investment.

This is Public News Service.

Several Idaho colleges are using grant money to make it easier for students to pursue a four-year degree.

Under the new system, students who apply to the College of Eastern Idaho or the College of Southern Idaho will gain automatic acceptance into Idaho State University.

It's meant to make the path from community college to a four-year university simpler and more refined.

Jeremy Green, a campus coordinator with ISU, says students no longer have to apply, send transcripts, and complete financial aid paperwork twice.

Students can make one good decision to go to college and then they have on-ramps and off-ramps all the way from a community college degree to the completion of a bachelor's and then perhaps even into graduate programs at Adams State.

Green says students will also know up front which community college classes they'll need to transfer to ISU.

I'm Laura Hatch reporting.

Support for this reporting provided by the Illumina Foundation.

And Minnesota has nearly 125 wind farms.

For people curious or skeptical about this long-standing renewable energy source, local leaders are engaging with residents, including a session tonight in the state's wind belt region.

Clean Grid Alliance is hosting a public education event in Redwood Falls to paint a picture of how wind energy works not only for the grid, but surrounding towns.

Direct payments go to landowners hosting turbines, and local governments see annual financial perks from a production tax on all wind generated.

Over in Nobles County, Commissioner Gene Metz says last year they received $2.4 million in revenue from the tax.

He says they're cautious not to put all of it in their general fund for quick spending, but the extra dollars do help.

We don't have a chance to bring in other businesses, and wind is one that will coexist with agriculture.

Skeptics say wind energy gobbles up prime farmland, but a recent USDA study claims the footprint is minimal.

I'm Mike Moen.

Finally, to the Sunshine State, where the Suwannee River is now listed as America's 10th most endangered river.

A new report from American Rivers warns that rising nitrate pollution from farming and wastewater combined with groundwater overpumping is causing vital springs to dry up while fueling harmful algae blooms.

Peter Robb, Southeast Regional Director for American Rivers, says existing protections are not being followed.

Really following the river management plans that are in place to making sure that those pollution loads are not exceeded because Florida is already designated the Suwannee as one of the outstanding rivers in the state, and those protections are not necessarily always followed.

The Suwannee River Valley sits over an unconfined aquifer, meaning pollutants like fertilizer nitrates have a direct path into the groundwater.

Measurements in some springs show nitrate levels more than 10 times the state's recommended limit.

I'm Tramiel Gomes.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service, member and listener supported.

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