Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Trump administration poised to accept 'palace in the sky' as a gift for Trump from Qatar; 283 workers nationwide, including 83 in CO, killed on the job; IL health officials work to combat vaccine hesitancy, stop measles spread; New research shows effects of nitrates on IA's most vulnerable.

Transcript

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, May the 12th, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

In what may be the most valuable gift ever extended to the US from a foreign government, the Trump administration is preparing to accept a super luxury Boeing 747-8 Jumbo Jet from the Royal Family of Qatar.

A gift that is to be available for use by Trump as the new Air Force One until shortly before he leaves office, at which time ownership of the plane will be transferred to the Trump presidential library.

That from ABC News.

They report the gift had been expected to be announced next week when Trump visited Qatar on his first foreign trip on the second term, according to sources familiar with the plans.

And 83 Colorado workers were killed on the job in 2023.

That's according to the AFL-CIO's latest death on the job report.

The report comes after the Trump administration eliminated the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the nation's only worker safety research agency.

The agency worked with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, to protect workers from asbestos, lead, black lung, and more.

Jason Wardrip with the Colorado Building and Construction Trades Council says OSHA regulations have saved over 700,000 lives.

These things are written in blood.

Every regulation in OSHA is because somebody has been injured or perished because this has happened somewhere, somehow, in the world.

Nationally, over 5,200 workers were killed on the job, and over 135,000 died from work-related diseases in 2023.

Colorado's relationship with organized labor, which has historically advocated for worker safety over profits, has been mixed.

Lawmakers strengthened child labor protections in 2023, but Governor Jared Polis plans to veto a measure that would remove barriers that block workers from joining a union.

I'm Eric Galatas.

Next to Illinois, where at least two people have tested positive now for measles, and public health officials are working to combat misinformation surrounding vaccines in an effort to curb the spread.

Health officials say the measles virus is highly infectious and especially concerning for babies and young children, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems.

It can cause pneumonia, brain damage, and even be fatal in some cases.

But Dr. Kiran Joshi with the Cook County Department of Public Health says it is also preventable through vaccination with two doses of what's known as the MMR vaccine, providing nearly 100 percent lifelong protection. 97 percent of people who got measles this year happened to be unvaccinated.

So vaccination is incredibly protective.

Joshi adds, over the past 50 years, the measles vaccine has saved more than 150 million lives across the world.

He says the department has launched a campaign to counter some of the misinformation that is circulating.

I'm Judith Ruiz Branch reporting.

This is Public News Service.

New research at Iowa State University shows elevated nitrate levels have an outsized effect on the state's most vulnerable populations.

ISU Water Resources Assistant Professor Leo Liu says, "Nitrates, which are prominent in ground and surface water near commercial agriculture operations, exceed safe levels and affect Iowa's most vulnerable."

Such as people of color, low-income populations, elderly, and also children.

Despite their negative health impacts, the Iowa Environmental Council reports only 4 percent of public water utilities in Iowa have nitrate removal systems.

I'm Mark Moran.

In New Mexico's decades-long drought combined with climate change have more, have more farmers and ranchers embracing what's called the six healthy soil principles, tailoring how each parcel of land is managed.

New Mexico's farming practices date back at least 2,500 years, but the state's Healthy Soil Working Group says the arid climate and diverse ecology make a one-size-fits-all approach ineffective.

Climatologist Dave DuBois says the recent storm should improve this year's snowpack, but farmers and ranchers must plan five or 10 years into the future.

The scenarios from climate change models are showing us warmer temperatures, hotter droughts, and then more evaporation.

How do you manage all that in a system where we still have agriculture as our cultural identity?

Agriculture is the state's third largest industry after energy and aerospace.

I'm Roz Brown.

Finally, we head to Utah, where keeping more renters in their home is one goal of a new initiative.

A report by the Utah Housing Coalition found a 23 percent failure rate in Utah's Housing Choice Voucher program, which project manager Zoe Newman says underscores the need for action.

Multiple bills to help renters have failed in the Utah legislature, and there's uncertainty about how federal funding for housing assistance will fare in the Trump administration's spending cuts.

Newman says they're aiming to fill gaps where they can.

We hope that by developing this system, connecting people to services that already exist in their communities, that we could start working towards a place where potentially we have our own lease that people can kind of hop onto, because as we all know, in Utah, the lease is law.

Newman says they see the need for what she calls more holistic leases.

Creating them is a longer-term goal for the coalition, which was launched last week.

About 40 partners have joined so far.

Learn more online at utahhousing.org.

Data show housing affordability and availability are top issues for Utahns.

Newman is hopeful the new coalition will be able to bring stakeholders to the table.

I'm Alex Gonzalez reporting.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service, member and listener supported.

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