Six minutes of news from around the nation.

President announces plans for new 'Trump Class' battleships; Lawmakers threaten legal action against Bondi, DOJ over partial release of Epstein files; Starbucks barista strike reaches NH stores; Nearly 1 million in NC to see health premiums skyrocket in 2026; Mississippi jails helping ICE identify, detain immigrants.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, December the 23rd, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

President Donald Trump announced Monday that the Navy would build two new Trump-class battleships with the eventual goal of acquiring 25.

The announcement by Trump was the latest example of the President rebranding an aspect of the government in his own image.

That's the New York Times.

Their report Navy Secretary John Phelan called the vessels just one piece of the president's golden fleet that we're going to build

And from ABC News, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced legislation Monday that would direct the Senate to initiate legal action to hold the Justice Department accountable for failing to release the complete files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein by Friday's deadline, which was mandated by the Epstein files transparency act.

Meantime, unitized Starbucks workers in New Hampshire have joined what is now the longest unfair labor practices strike in the company's history.

Members of Starbucks Workers United walked off the job in November, claiming the company has stonewalled contract negotiations and failed to make credible offers regarding staffing levels and pay.

Barista Kaitlyn Power says too many of her colleagues are struggling to get by, while Starbucks executives make millions.

We just want to be able to survive and not wonder, did I get enough hours to buy groceries this week?

That really shouldn't be happening in a company that's making this much money.

She says workers are asking the community not to cross their picket line and to take an online pledge of support.

So far, workers in Epping, Stratum and Seabrook have joined the strike.

Starbucks states it's committed to bargaining in good faith and that a low worker turnover rate reflects what it calls one of the best jobs in retail.

I'm Katherine Carley.

Health insurance costs are set to rise in 2026.

That's after the Congress decided not to vote on extending Affordable Care Act insurance tax credits which were cut in the one big beautiful bill act and expire at the end of the year.

Without the credits nearly one million people in North Carolina will see their monthly health care costs rise 149 percent on average.

U.S. Representative Alma Adams is a Democrat representing the Charlotte area.

She spoke about the impact from cuts while pushing for a vote on extending tax.

Not only does their bill fail to extend the ACA tax credit, something that helps 88,000 folks in my district afford health insurance, it abandons financial assistance for middle class families when they're already struggling to make the ends meet.

About 36,000 North Carolinians are expected to lose their health care because of the increase in health care premiums.

Some will be hit harder than others after the ACA tax credits expire.

For example, a 60-year-old couple in the state making $85,000 will be among the hardest hit, an expected premium increase of $25,000 per year.

Republicans in Congress said an extension of health insurance tax credits would not fix the underlying problems of the ACA.

I'm Eric Tegethoff reporting.

This is Public News Service.

Most of us have heard stories of federal agents detaining undocumented migrants off the street.

That is getting a lot of headlines lately, but a new report shows the majority of ICE arrests in states like Mississippi take place in local and state jails.

ICE and other agencies like the US Marshals Service often work together through agreements both legal and financial for local officers to notify ICE of possible undocumented immigrants.

Wanda Bertram with the nonprofit Prison Policy Initiative said the problem is growing.

Over the last several months a trend that we began to notice, and it has continued is that the single largest source of arrests of ICE arrests in this country are local jails.

Earlier this month the Prison Policy Initiative issued a report examining how jails continue to facilitate mass deportation and also identifying opportunities or resistance at the state and local levels.

Bertram says that nationwide about half of all ICE arrests happen out of local jails and other lockups.

But she adds that statistics provided by ICE show that red states in the Deep South have some of the highest arrest rates.

The largest share of ICE arrests happening in jails are largely states in the south.

Mississippi, 83 percent of ICE arrests happening in jails.

Alabama, 76 percent.

South Carolina, 80 percent.

Bertram says that in the face of public opposition to the wave of immigration detentions, many counties and states are opting out of agreements to work with federal authorities in their jails.

Mark Richardson reporting.

And next up, Federal pandemic relief funds helped Ohio colleges expand mental health services, but as the funding expires, universities across the state are reassessing which support systems they can afford to keep.

During the pandemic, Ohio universities used emergency federal aid to bolster counseling capacity and expand student support services.

Campuses added staff, rolled out telehealth options, and invested in programs focused on basic needs and wellness to respond to rising student distress.

Jessica Zavala, director of the Ohio Program for Campus Safety and Mental Health, says those investments significantly strengthen campus systems, at least temporarily.

Some institutions have added more counselors or expanded other support services connected to basic needs services, and some of those expansions probably won't go away overnight.

Student mental health needs remain high.

The 2023 Healthy Minds study found 41 percent of college students screened positive for depression, while counseling centers nationwide report average wait times of more than nine days for appointments.

Farah Siddiqui reporting.

This story was produced with original reporting by Lillian Alhassan for Kent State News Lab, in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gunn Foundation.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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