Six minutes of news from around the nation.

New England food banks brace for loss of November SNAP benefits; Bill aims to study how AI data centers raise costs for rural Virginians and WA group celebrates 50 years of organizing for human rights.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service Daily Newscast for October 22nd, 2025.

I'm Joe Ulory.

President Trump wants the Justice Department to pay him about $230 million for federal investigations into him.

The Associated Press reports the request could eventually be reviewed by officials who once defended him, raising questions about possible conflicts of interest.

Trump filed two claims to a process lead to lawsuits.

One from late 2023 challenges FBI and special counsel probes into Russian election interference.

Another filed in 2024 accuses the FBI of violating his privacy during the Mar-a-Lago search and the Justice Department of malicious prosecution over classified records.

Millions of Americans will go without food assistance next month due to the continued government shutdown.

The Trump administration has informed states that funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance will not be distributed as Congress remains deadlocked over healthcare funding.

Heather Paquette with the Good Shepherd Food Bank in Auburn, Maine, calls it an unprecedented and scary time as pantries prepare for an inability to meet demand.

It is not reasonable to think that the state can food bank their way out of cuts of this magnitude.

More than 190,000 Mainers are considered to be food insecure, including some 50,000 children.

Paquette says food pantries statewide are already reporting lines twice as long as those seen in September.

And the Thanksgiving holiday is just around the corner.

I'm Katherine Carley.

Critics of the data centers built across Virginia for the AI boom say they are causing utility bills to explode and have negative impacts on the environment, especially in rural communities.

A new bill in Congress would examine those effects.

The Unleashing Low-Cost Rural AI Act would study how AI data centers, encouraged by the Trump administration, will affect energy costs for rural Americans.

Virginia is home to more data centers than any other state with 150 dotting the Commonwealth.

Christopher Miller with the Piedmont Environmental Council says rural areas can't help but feel the impact as the demand for more data centers grows.

The impact on land resources, everything from farmland to important historic sites, scenic qualities, affected by the footprint of the data centers.

Some of these are being built in places where development's planned, that others are being built out in rural areas.

That's just a lot of land just for the footprint of the data centers.

I think the federal role is to have an understanding of the overall cost.

I think what's terrifying is the other end of the spectrum, which is advocating for no regulation or for the suspension of existing rules.

According to a report from Virginia's Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, data centers are projected to triple electric demand in the Commonwealth by 2050.

This is Public News Service.

The Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane is celebrating 50 years of activism on issues ranging from nuclear waste to human rights starting in 1975.

As a teenager concerned about the US war in Iraq, Liz Moore, now the group's executive director, found Pajal's by looking up peace in the phone book.

She says the group's priorities in its 50th year are the same as in its first year, working for a vision of peace, economic justice, and racial equity.

What that means right now is organizing against white Christian nationalism and authoritarianism to push for inclusive multiracial democracy as a shared vision.

Pajal's offers workshops on protesting and understanding First Amendment rights says Moore.

The group is also pushing Spokane's lawmakers to create an emergency aid fund to support immigrant families in the area who are being impacted by the increase in ICE activity.

I'm Isabel Charlay.

The University of Texas at Austin was one of nine original universities invited to take part in a higher education compact offered by President Donald Trump.

Freda Ross has the latest.

All universities now have an opportunity to accept the offer.

Trump says he believes universities in this country have lost their way.

Past president of the American Association of University Professors Austin Chapter at UTA, Pauline Strong, says the compact asked the school to make wide-ranging changes to its operations in exchange for preferential federal funding.

"Admissions procedures, curriculum, freedom of expression, the way faculty assess student work, tuition policies, admission of international students."

Strong says AAUP has drafted a letter urging the state's Board of Regents to reject the compact.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.

Seniors in central Indiana are exploring historic sites across the state without ever leaving their seats.

Stillwater's Adult Center in Indianapolis has partnered with the Indiana State Museum for virtual tours that let seniors with dementia visit places like Angel Mounds, Whitewater Canal and the Levi and Catherine Coffin House.

Diana Keely is executive director at Stillwaters.

She seniors engaged and connected.

Our guests can't go to these places.

The drive is just too far, or when they get there, it's difficult for them to actually explore and walk the grounds and walk around.

Healy says about 25 to 30 seniors join each session.

Advocates say virtual programs like this help reduce isolation and improve memory stimulation.

But others note they don't replace in-person experiences and can be limited by technology access.

This story was produced with original reporting from Amy Felogy for Arts Midwest, Indiana.

This is Joe Ulory for Public News Service.

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