Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Bay area tech workers ask CEOs to cancel ICE contracts; WI professor: Dems face breaking point over DHS funding feud; Victory for tribes: OR court rejects 'weakened' salmon protections; MI schools move closer to ban on cellphones during class; American Petroleum Institute targets pollution 'superfund' laws.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, January the 27th, 2026.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Several prominent Bay Area tech CEOs spent the first year of President Trump's second term butting up with the administration.

But the violence from ICE officers in Minneapolis this month is prompting a backlash from workers inside the industry and CEOs are the primary target.

That from SFGATE.

They report the petition asked the CEOs to cancel any contracts with ICE, speak out against the agency's violence, and demand that the Trump administration pull officers from cities.

The petition also points to Trump's calling off a surge of officers to San Francisco in October after speaking with the mayor there, as well as the CEOs of Nvidia and Salesforce.

Meantime, a Wisconsin professor is calling another potential government shutdown the ultimate test for the Democratic Party.

Congress is currently in contentious negotiations over a House approved bill that contains additional funding for the including billions for immigration and customs enforcement.

This comes as national political uproar continues to ensue after immigration agent shot and killed 37 year old Alex Pretty in Minneapolis during protests over the weekend.

Howard Schraber, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison argues any compromise could result in a complete collapse of the Democratic Party.

If they fail to either stand strong and shut down the government or obtain dramatic cuts for DHS and constraints on DHS operations, I think that their leadership of the Democratic Party is over.

The multi-bill package budgets more than $64 billion for DHS.

The Senate has until Friday to approve or amend it, or they'll risk another government shutdown.

I'm Judith Ruiz Branch reporting.

And in a victory for tribes and conservation groups, an Oregon appeals court has overturned a state rule that critics say weakened protections for migratory fish like salmon and steelhead.

The 2022 rule allowed dam operators to trap and truck fish around dams instead of upgrading the structures to ensure a safe passage for the fish.

It was challenged by two Northwest tribes, including the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and several non-profits.

Umatilla Tribal Chair Kate Brigham says the rule was changed without their input and that fish need to be able to navigate the dams to support healthy populations.

It creates the natural path for our salmon to get back to their habitat.

The trap and haul does not work.

And so we were really pleased with the court decision to say there was lack of public involvement.

The court found the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife failed to notify tribes or the public before adopting the rule.

The decision reinstates the state's longstanding requirement that barriers be upgraded so fish can swim past freely. operators have contended that installing and maintaining fish passage equipment is expensive and can make dams less efficient.

I'm Isabel Charlay.

This is Public News Service.

With broad bipartisan support the Michigan House has overwhelmingly approved a bill that would ban cell phone use during classroom instruction.

The proposal includes exceptions but lawmakers say they would be infrequent.

The bill would also allow school districts to adopt stricter policies if they choose.

State Senator Dana Polhenke of La Bona sponsored the Senate version of the legislation and help craft the emergency provisions.

There is a very important carve out for emergency situations that I made sure was in there.

There are also exceptions for things like medical devices, district issued laptops, some lessons.

The measure introduced in the House by Republican Representative Mark Tisdell of Rochester Hills passed by a wide margin after the Senate approved the package on a 34 to 1 vote.

If signed into law it would prohibit smartphone use during instructional time for all K through 12 public school students starting in the 2026 and 27 school year.

Crystal Blair reporting.

Next an Iowa family advocacy group has launched a new statewide initiative called Work Well Iowa to connect supportive workplace policies with family well-being.

Iowa ACES 360 aims to foster practical solution-focused conversations on how workplace policies can help Iowans thrive and strengthen communities.

Andrea Deklo, Systems Innovation Director with Iowa ACES 360, emphasizes that supportive workplace policies are essential for community strength, not just optional extras.

Those include things like paid leave, flexible and predictable scheduling, health and wellness benefits, child care, and all the different ways that those things might be realized in the workplace. 76 percent of Iowa's children live in homes where their primary caregivers work.

Mark Richardson reporting.

Finally, the nation's largest lobbying arm of the oil and gas industry is calling on the Congress to shield companies from a growing number of lawsuits and state laws passed to make the industry pay for the impacts of pollution.

The American Petroleum Institute's 2026 policy priorities include ending the expansion of climate superfund policies recently passed in Vermont and New York.

Claire Dorner with the Sierra Club says these new laws simply say if you make a mess, you need to clean it up.

It isn't fair that big oil and gas companies are continuing to rake in record profits while we pay the price for pollution and lies, literally paying the price.

And calls the new laws abusive and is urging Congress to intervene to maintain U.S. energy leadership around the world.

I'm Eric Galatas.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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