Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Texas Democrats head to Illinois to deny Republicans a quorum on redistricting; Idaho higher ed grants terminated in Trump admin's cost-cutting spree; Medicaid reductions threaten rural Michigan hospitals; New Jersey parents encouraged to check in on kids' mental health.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service Daily Newscast for August the 4th, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

In an extraordinary move to counter Republican redistricting in Texas, dozens of Democrats in the state House are heading out of state to deny a necessary quorum for the GOP to move forward with those efforts.

That from NBC News.

They report that roughly 30 Democrats expected to stay for the week in Illinois and a plan brokered with Governor J.B. Pritzker, who had met with the Texas caucus late last month and has directed staff to provide logistical support for their stay.

NBC reports last week Texas Republicans released a proposed new congressional map that would give the GOP a path to pick up five seats in next year's midterm elections.

The proposed map would shift district lines in ways that would target current Democratic members of Congress in and around Austin, Dallas, and Houston.

And the Trump administration is targeting thousands of higher education grants worth billions of dollars.

Idaho students could see some of the greatest cuts.

A new analysis from the Center for American Progress finds the administration has taken aim at more than 4,000 grants at over 600 schools in every state.

Public colleges and universities have seen the biggest hit, with cuts nearly twice as high as private institutions.

Greta Bedecovich, one of the authors of the report from the Center for American Progress, says the cuts could cripple higher education's research abilities.

By targeting billions of dollars in federal grants for termination, the administration is really depriving students, professors, researchers, and communities of critical investments that are meant to improve our health, our agricultural systems, job opportunities, even our national security.

Bedekovich notes there is still litigation around the cancellation of these grants, although many universities and colleges have already returned money to the U.S. Treasury.

She says some of the examples of cancel grants around the country are for research into new treatments for brain tumors, cleaning up pollution in Appalachia, and studying the effects of soil toxins on children's health.

I'm Eric Tegethoff reporting.

Next to Michigan where three rural hospitals could be at risk following Medicaid cuts tied to the new federal budget law according to researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The measure will slash almost one trillion dollars in Medicaid funding over the next decade.

UNC researchers say the hospitals at risk include McLaren Central and Mount Pleasant, University of Michigan Health Sparrow and Carson City, and Ascension Borges Lee and Dowagiac.

Laura Oppelt with the Michigan Health and Hospital Association says a careful analysis shows the new budget will negatively affect direct payments to Michigan hospitals.

"Over the 10 years that this act is designed to be in place, Michigan hospitals are lined up to lose more than six billion dollars and that's all of our hospitals across the state.

Supporters of the cuts argue they help restore fiscal discipline.

Crystal Blair reporting.

This is Public News Service.

Back to school is often a time of anxiety for students of all ages.

Experts are reminding New Jersey parents to check on kids' mental health.

In addition to first day jitters and worries about new schools, students may have concerns about peers and academic pressure.

Meredith Mason Blount with the New Jersey chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness says you can help support their emotional health by keeping routines around dinner and bedtime.

"Routines are hugely important, especially for younger kids because they know what to expect.

Sometimes it might feel counterintuitive that a rigid routine might make people feel restricted, but it actually can help comfort people too."

She says it's a good idea to get kids back on a school schedule and start waking them up early a couple of weeks before classes resume.

Brett Pivito reporting.

And the national shortage of air traffic controllers is putting pressure on flight safety and operations.

Ohio is stepping up to help.

Melanie Dickman, a lecturer at OSU's Center for Aviation Studies, says the goal is to create more pathways into the profession and ease strain on the system.

Ohio State's program will allow graduates to skip the first classroom phase of FAA Academy training.

Our goal is to achieve this enhanced CTI status within the next three years.

If that assessor signs them off, then they can go directly into an actual facility.

So they can bypass the FAA Training Academy altogether.

Dickman says they hope to eventually offer an even more advanced track what the FAA calls an enhanced CTI designation.

Because that's such a bottleneck right now, we are hoping that having some of these CTI programs throughout the country is going to help alleviate that shortage a little bit.

The FAA Academy in Oklahoma City is currently the sole training site for most new controllers.

Only about 10 percent of applicants meet entry requirements and around 30 percent fail to complete the program.

This is Nadia Ramlagon for Ohio News Connection.

Finally, public health officials in Maine are criticizing the Trump administration's proposal to end federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions.

At issue is what's known as the government's endangerment finding, which provides the legal basis for climate regulations under the Clean Air Act.

Rebecca Bolas with the Maine Public Health Association says decades of data show pollution from vehicles and power plants are bad for the planet.

Our federal environmental protection agency seems to be more concerned with supporting the petroleum industry than supporting everyday Americans who are contending with and really paying for the costs of climate change.

EPA officials say the move will save Americans money and provide regulatory relief to the auto industry.

But legal challenges are expected.

I'm Catherine Carley.

This is Mike Clifford.

And thank you for starting your week. with Public News Service, member and listener supported, find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.