Six minutes of news from around the nation.

A federal judge says no to a federal database to check citizenship, saying it could wrongly purge voters; PA educators push for phone-free classrooms to enhance learning; California tribes press for guaranteed consultation on water rights; Washington college grads adapt to AI-era job market.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service daily newscast for June the 23rd, 2026.

I'm Mike Clifford.

A tool central to the Trump administration's efforts to nationalize elections can no longer be used.

The Washington Post notes that U.S. District Judge Sparkle L. Sukunen, cited with advocacy groups that argued the recent upgrades to the program called systematic alien verification for entitlements or SAVE, aggravated American-sensitive personal information in a way that could result in voters being wrongfully purged from voter rolls.

Meantime, Pennsylvania is one step closer to limiting student cell phone use in schools.

The statehouse approved House Bill 1814, which would require schools to restrict student access to mobile devices for the entire school day.

The bail-to-bail policy would affect roughly 500 school districts and more than 1.7 million students across the state.

Aaron Chafin with the Pennsylvania State Education Association says when students use their cell phones for text messaging or phone calls during the school day, it's disruptive to learning.

Your average teenager gets over 237 text messages a day.

That's a lot of pings.

That's a lot of distraction during the seven hours that they're at school.

He notes that 28 states currently have laws restricting students' use of cell phones and mobile devices during the school day, including 19 others with bail-to-bail restrictions.

Several school districts in Pennsylvania have independently adopted similar policies.

Danielle Smith reporting.

The Pew Research Center finds many parents who oppose phone bans worry about staying connected with their child, with 70% calling that a major concern.

And a bill to guarantee consultation between the state of California and tribes on water rights gets a hearing before a state senate committee today.

Assembly Bill 2218, which already passed the state assembly unanimously, says state agencies must give tribes a voice on water projects, plans, and policies.

Craig Tucker, an advisor to the Kerouk tribe in Northern California, says this will right past wrongs.

The fact is that water was stolen and the laws were contrived to make that okay.

And that's what we're trying to unpack here.

In 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order that acknowledged past injustices.

The bill would write into law existing state policies and provide assurances that these policies remain in place far into the future.

The Association of California Water Agencies opposes the bill, saying it is too vague and invites excessive legal challenges to water decisions.

Tucker says it's the other way around, claiming past legal challenges to the rules requiring tribal consultation make this law necessary.

If the water quality is so poor that we cannot get in it.

For California News Service, I'm Suzanne Park.

This is Public News Service.

Last fall, recent college grad unemployment hit a five-year high, while employment among youth adults in jobs most exposed to artificial intelligence dipped.

Research shows jobs most likely to be replaced by AI over the next decade include customer service, accounting and software development.

Noah Hurd is an aspiring software engineer that just graduated from the University of Washington, Tacoma.

He says despite the recent wave of layoffs in his field, he is optimistic that employers are seeing the drawbacks that come from reliance on AI.

We are seeing instances where it's being introduced into new fields where it could really change workflows.

Regardless, it's here to stay.

I have to figure out how to make use of it to be a better developer, to be a better engineer.

Labor experts say AI hasn't replaced much entry-level or white-collar work yet, even as it adds more uncertainty to an already tight job market.

But young workers could be hit hardest.

I'm Isobel Charle.

Next, heart disease is the leading cause of death in both Missouri and the nation, claiming more than 15,000 lives in the Show Me State each year.

New research suggests rising rates of high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes among women could drive even more heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure in the decades ahead.

Dr. Karen Joint-Maddox, a cardiologist at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, says the most common risk factor for heart disease is high blood pressure.

The tricky thing about high blood pressure is that you can't feel it.

So oftentimes people will have high blood pressure for years before it's ever found.

That's slightly less true in women because women are more likely to go to the doctor for other reasons.

She stresses that many heart attacks and strokes can be prevented through regular screenings, early treatment of conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity, and developing healthy habits like eating well and staying active.

Crystal Blair reporting.

Finally, a proposal to explore for rare earth minerals in Montana's Bitterroot Valley is igniting fierce opposition, and opponents want the Trump administration to stop fast-tracking it.

The Sheep Creek mine would sit within the headwaters of the West Fork of the Bitterroot River in southwestern Montana.

Critics say that's the worst possible location, and the environmental damage would affect everything downstream.

Alex Oconius is with the Bitterroot Water Partnership.

Water brings people together in the Bitterroot Valley.

A river runs through it, through our valley.

Our cornerstone economies rely on clean and abundant water.

The project is on the Fast 41 list, which fast tracks the permitting process for infrastructure projects the federal government deems critical.

I'm Laura Hatch reporting.

This is by Clifford for Public News Service.

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