Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Feds foil alleged ISIS attack on New York State Capitol; Survey: New York, U.S. voters describe what they want from government; Taos, New Mexico joins DeFlock to resist license plate readers; New Hampshire voters concerned with election security and voter intimidation.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, August the 21st, 2026.

I'm Mike Clifford.

It is an alleged plot to bomb the New York State Capitol in Albany. 35-year-old Jessica Bowie of Albany alleged to have told a confidential source she supported the Islamic State Militant Group known as ISIS and asked for help learning how to make explosives, according to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S.

District Court for the Northern District of New York.

NBC News notes she was arrested Wednesday by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Meantime, a new survey finds New Yorkers and voters nationwide want a government that works for them.

The Partnership for Public Service survey notes six priorities people had when talking about the role of government.

These include a government that understands and is responsive to the average American's needs and one that effectively identifies and works to solve the country's greatest problems.

Lindsay LaFerrier with the partnership finds it interesting how widespread those feelings are.

It was really encouraging to me how much common ground there was and the types of priorities.

Now the work is how do we make sure government is living up to these principles and priorities and how do we build that broad coalition of people to make sure you're holding leaders accountable for delivering this type of government.

The survey also notes people are making changes by raising awareness of government actions, voting, or engaging with community organizations.

But the data also find about 52% of respondents don't interact with government because they feel it won't make much of a difference or because of distrust in their elected leaders.

I'm Edwin J. Viera.

The survey finds the country is split almost evenly about the future of democracy. 48% of respondents are optimistic, while 45% are pessimistic about what lies ahead.

And in New Mexico, Taos residents who want automated license plate readers kept off local streets are participating in this week's national effort to raise awareness about Flock's pervasive camera system.

A project called DeFlock has organized people in 460 cities across the country to say no to surveillance technology.

Last month, the Taos Town Council voted against renewing its contract with Flock, effectively ending the use of 18 automated license plate reader cameras due to citizen privacy concerns.

Councilmember Darian Fernandez argued for greater accountability.

I think it behooves us to work at all levels of government to ensure that our constitutional privacies are protected in the face of these emerging technologies.

The Taos Town Council didn't renew the $54,000 FLOC contract and reappropriated the funds within the police department for an undetermined purpose.

I'm Roz Brown.

FLOC's network operates across 49 states.

In this year's New Mexico session, lawmakers passed the Driver Protection and Safety Act designed to restrict how local and out-of-state entities can collect and share scanned data.

This is Public News Service.

Conservation groups in Utah say a Trump administration planned to cancel the decades-old roadless rule in national forests is so conceived and reckless.

The 2001 rule limits road building and most logging in undeveloped parts of national forests.

About half of Utah's roughly 8 million acres of forest service land are affected by the roadless rule.

Kim Pope, a conservation strategist with the Sierra Club, says the move not only endangers the ecology of Utah's forests, but would also allow potentially destructive development at important historical archaeological sites.

A lot of these roadless areas have cultural significance and also have historic relevance, things like petroglyphs and places that are really important to the indigenous history of the area.

Supporters like Utah Governor Spencer Cox and federal officials argue that the rule prevents forest managers from thinning overgrown and diseased timber to lower fire risks.

I’m Mark Richardson.

And excessive social media use could be harmful for people in their late teens and early 20s.

A report from a team at the UT Health Houston School of Behavioral Health Sciences found that higher social media use is associated with increased levels of anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts among young people.

Psychologist Jeff Temple says this is the first time this particular age group has been studied.

College students as well as those in the workforce, trade school, military, not working.

And it's a contemporary sample, so the newer type of things like TikTok, the sort of endless scroll that we see with smartphones and social media.

Study participants who used social media for more than six hours a day reported the most symptoms.

Temple adds the research couldn't determine if social media use contributed to the mental health problems or if people with mental health issues spent more time on social media.

I'm Freda Ross reporting.

Finally, as election officials across New Hampshire prepare for the September primaries, voters of all political backgrounds say they're increasingly concerned about election security.

A recent Gallup-Charles F. Kettering Foundation poll reveals two in three Americans worry political leaders will work to change election outcomes, while more than half of respondents worry their ballot will not be properly counted.

Lisa Kovac with the New Hampshire Campaign for Voting Rights says while the Trump administration has spent years testing the electoral system's limits, voters should feel confident.

The structures that make a free and fair election possible in the United States are still strong, and the people who run our elections are really committed to doing their job.

She says other countries have shown it's much more difficult to interfere in an election when there's a high voter turnout.

I'm Katherine Carley.

This is Mike Clifford, and thank you for wrapping up your week with Public News Service.

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