Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Navy secretary out after only 13 months; Chemical leak at a West Virginia plant kills 2 people; Maine's first-in-nation ban on data centers awaits governor's approval; Experts: NYers can face health harms from plastic packaging; U.S. Supreme Court: Line 5 case stays in Michigan.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service daily newscast April the 23rd, 2026.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Navy Secretary John Phelan, leaving the Trump administration effective immediately, officials said Wednesday in an abrupt exit after 13 tumultuous months at the Pentagon.

Washington Post knows Phelan, a billionaire campaign contributor for Trump, clashed repeatedly with Hegseth throughout his time atop the Navy.

The move comes even as the U.S. Navy is coming out of blockade of Iranian ports during a ceasefire in the Iran War.

And from the Associated Press, a chemical leak at a West Virginia silver recovery business Wednesday killed two people and sent about 30 others to the hospital.

Meantime, as Maine Governor Janet Mills considers a potential ban on power-hungry data centers, business advocates worry it could hinder needed investments in rural parts of the state.

That includes the town of Jay, where a plan to convert a former paper mill into a data center with an on-site solar system would exceed the ban's 20-megawatt usage limit.

Main Chamber of Commerce CEO Patrick Woodcock says a ban could derail much-needed clean energy projects across the state.

Some projects, I think, could become collateral damage and look elsewhere.

We are 100 percent against this moratorium.

If approved by the governor, the ban would be the first of its kind in the nation and would remain in place until November 2027, giving state officials time to study data centers' impacts on utility rates.

This story is based on original reporting by Julia Tilton for The Daily Yonder.

I'm Katherine Carley.

And as New York works to reduce plastic use, experts note avoiding it has numerous health benefits.

State lawmakers are considering a bill requiring manufacturers to reduce plastic packaging by 30 percent over 12 years, with the first reduction of 10 percent required by 2027.

Data show microplastics and nanoplastics carry more than 16,000 chemicals.

Dr. Shauna Swan with the Icahn School of Medicine says these chemicals can alter a person's hormones.

So they're called endocrine disruptors, endocrine disrupting chemicals.

For example, the class of chemicals called phthalates, which make plastics soft and flexible, have the ability to lower your testosterone level.

She says this can impact reproductive health by lowering the chance of getting pregnant or influencing semen quality.

Polls show reducing plastic use is popular among most New Yorkers, and the state's Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act has wide support.

I'm Edwin J. Viera.

Next, more Ohio immigrants are being arrested and held in jail, but they aren't being charged with a crime.

They're incarcerated under so-called civil detention, unique to immigration law.

Lynn Chimanti is the executive director of Ohio Immigrant Alliance.

We don't enforce any other civil laws this way by putting people in a criminal jail, and we shouldn't be doing it with immigration cases either.

She adds that a report shows it's taxpayers who are shelling out more money to detain and hold immigrants in local jails.

This is Public News Service.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the ongoing Line 5 oil pipeline case will remain in Michigan, rejecting the operator's bid to move it to federal court.

The justices found the company, Enbridge, waited too long to try to shift the case.

The dispute centers on the aging pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac, where environmental groups warn a potential oil spill in the Great Lakes could be catastrophic.

David Holtz with the group Oil and Water Don't Mix Coalition says the day of the high court's decision adds to its significance.

It's the best possible news to have on Earth Day.

The case will head back to state court where it belongs.

Thanks to Michigan's attorney general, we're closer than ever to putting this oil pipeline in the rearview mirror.

In a statement, Enbridge says in part, The safety of Line 5 is regulated at the federal level by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which conducts regular inspections and has found the pipeline in compliance with no issues requiring shutdown.

Crystal Blair reporting.

And Arizona game officials are working with partners in northern Mexico to return more gray wolves into the wild.

It's part of a decades-long effort to eventually remove the animals from the endangered species list.

Working with wolf experts in Mexico, Arizona game officials have just released four more gray wolves into the Mexican state of Durango, nestled among the Sierra Madre in north-central Sonora.

Jim DeVos, the Mexican wolf coordinator for the Arizona Game and Fish Department, says the effort's been a long time in the making, and it's finally paying off.

We're talking about a 50-year program.

The wolves are now being bred in over 60 institutions, both in the U.S. and Mexico.

DeVos has prompted by predation concerns among some locals the program stalled in 2022, but adds that thanks to high-level cooperation from Mexican game officials, the wolves are thriving in their native habitat.

I'm Mark Moran.

Finally, there has been a push to build new gas-fired power plants in Colorado and across the U.S. to meet a surge in demand, including from new data centers coming online.

Proponents say methane, popularly known as natural gas, is more reliable at night when solar isn't available and when there's no wind turning turbines.

But according to a new report, utility companies, developers, and even regulators have rushed to approve gas projects without fully considering the risks.

Dennis Womstead with the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis says those risks are significant, especially for consumers.

Those new gas-fired power plants pose a significant risk for consumers because of the potential for really significant price spikes in the cost of the fuel, which get passed along to consumers.

I'm Eric Galatas.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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