Six minutes of news from around the nation.

One person killed, one remains missing after explosion at U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Works; With measles active, tribal health officials in SD fill vaccination gaps; Funding struggle for AmeriCorps, pipeline for workforce in rural NC; NY, U.S. Social Security workers to honor agency's 90-year legacy; Iowa educators work to protect speech, academic freedom in Iowa.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, August the 12th, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

One person was killed, another remained missing, and still more were injured Monday after an explosion at the U.S. Steel Clareton Coke Works that city officials said could be felt at least two miles from the sprawling industrial complex, that from WESA Pittsburgh.

They report one person was pronounced dead at a hospital, another person remained unaccounted for, and 10 others required hospital treatment for injuries suffered in the late morning blast at the plant about 15 miles south of Pittsburgh.

And a gunman killed three people who were outside a Target store in Austin, Texas Monday afternoon, then stole a succession of cars before he was apprehended.

That for the New York Times, the report two of the victims pronounced dead at the scene.

A third person was pronounced dead in a nearby hospital and a fourth was injured.

Meantime, public health officials remain concerned about a resurgence of measles cases in the U.S.

They say it's still hard for people in under-resourced areas, including tribal communities, to vaccinate their kids.

KFF Health News reports the Great Plains Tribal Leaders' Health Board, which serves Native American tribes across Iowa, Nebraska, and the Dakotas, is trying to get ahead of measles outbreaks by rolling out mobile vaccination clinics.

The board's Megan O'Connell says vaccination data on Native Americans isn't perfect, but suggests a lower percentage of them have received measles shots than the overall population.

Most of these communities are in very rural areas, so they can face significant barriers to care that others may not.

Her team also is working with tribes that want to host vaccine clinics.

Elsewhere, tribal health organizations have launched social media campaigns, are making sure health providers themselves are vaccinated and are reaching out to the parents of unvaccinated children.

The CDC says the highly contagious disease has seen its largest outbreak in the U.S. since 1992, with a handful of deaths this year.

I'm Mike Moen.

This story was originally reported by Arielle Zeance for KFF Health News.

Next, funding for AmeriCorps remains in limbo, putting at risk a group important for the workforce in rural North Carolina.

In April, the Trump administration cut $400 million in grants from the agency.

But judges have ordered the administration to restore that money.

However, the Office of Management and Budget is still withholding about $200 million.

That's a concern for North Carolinians, head of Voices for National Service and More Economy says, noting AmeriCorps is an important workforce development pipeline in rural areas.

For a lot of rural areas, it will attract young people to come in to provide services.

Maybe they're from someplace else and they fall in love with the community and they decide to stay.

So it's a really great way to attract talent to rural areas as well as keep young people from rural areas invested in their communities and providing service to their own communities.

North Carolina was among 24 states that sued the Trump administration over its initial cuts to AmeriCorps.

I'm Eric Tegethoff reporting.

This is Public News Service.

Social Security Administration workers in New York are joining a National Day of Action on Thursday to honor its 90th anniversary.

Workers are honoring decades of aid the program provides to older Americans and to fight back against cuts to the agency.

This comes as surveys show young people's confidence in Social Security is at a 15-year low, due in part to reports the program could be insolvent by 2034.

Albany-based claims specialist Jessica Sweet, who doesn't speak on SSA's behalf, says workforce cuts at the agency are causing customer service gaps.

"They're calling or they're coming in needing help and instead of solving their issues we're forced to book them appointments six, eight, ten weeks out.

Some offices are ending up with appointments double booked."

She adds, "It's impossible to give people the service they've paid for their whole lives."

A Center on Budget Policy and Priorities report finds downsizing by the Department of Government Efficiency has failed to accomplish its mission of streamlining Social Security's customer service work.

I'm Edwin J. Vieira.

And Iowa educators are pushing back on what they see as an effort by the state to limit academic freedom and unfettered speech in university classrooms.

The state's three public universities, the Iowa Federation of Labor and a graduate student Union have formed the Iowa Higher Education Coalition to defend free speech.

University of Northern Iowa journalism professor Chris Martin says there has been a strong effort by the Iowa legislature to insert political influence into the classroom.

You want to have discussions in classrooms where professors feel they can talk about anything that's related to that class and they shouldn't feel like they can't say certain things and risk getting fired.

And that's the kind of black cloud that's going to have settled out over the state of of Iowa and what we've been having to deal with this year.

The coalition is made up of graduate students, university faculty, and a handful of Iowa labor unions.

The group has created a petition, which it is asking educators and students to sign.

I'm Mark Moran.

Finally today is National Poll Workers Recruitment Day, a nationwide effort to inspire civic engagement and encourage more people to sign up for this critical role.

Organizers say poll workers are essential in every election cycle, not just during presidential years to ensure voting is accessible, secure, and efficient.

Justin Cuasa with the League of Conservation Voters points to recent changes in the state election policies as a reason the need is especially urgent this year.

I think one thing I'll say with Georgia is over the past four years, we have seen a concerted effort from the state legislature in order to disenfranchise communities, in order to make sure that less people are allowed to vote.

So that's why it's doubly important we have trained capable poll workers.

Cuasa adds that having more trained poll workers can help cut wait times and guide voters through what he describes as a complicated process in the state.

Shantia Hudson reporting.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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