Six minutes of news from around the nation.

'Inappropriate' comments about Charlie Kirk shooting lead to university firings; WA law ensures pay for immigration proceedings; Ohio voting reform advocates push for fair maps; Amid proposed research funding cuts IN cancer rates mirror national data.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service Joe Newscast, September the 17th, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

FBI Director Kash Patel clashed with skeptical Democrats at a contentious Senate oversight hearing Tuesday, defending his record amid criticism that he has politicized the nation's premier federal law enforcement agency and pursued retribution against perceived adversaries of President Donald Trump.

That for the Associated Press.

The AP notes that five agents and top level executives were known to have been summarily fired last month in a wave of ousters that current and former officials say has contributed to a declining morale.

Meantime, advocates warn that President Donald Trump's cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs are impacting wait times at VA clinics across the Commonwealth and the country.

Some 700,000 Virginians are veterans and thousands more work at VA facilities across the Commonwealth.

The VA is on track to lose 30,000 employees by the end of the month through attrition, just a third of the originally planned cuts.

The cuts are a reversal of the VA's hiring spree in the Biden era, with more than 60,000 employees joining the agency, mainly in an effort to ramp up care following the passage of the PACT Act.

Mark Harris is a retired Army colonel.

He says cuts can only go so far before impacting care for veterans.

At the hospital, you can only do so much with limited resources.

You can't continue to do more with less.

Eventually, you just get less with less.

So that's one of the things that they're not taking into account.

Trump administration officials have defended cuts to the VA, arguing the agency needed overhauls to address efficiency issues and wait times.

But in the year after the 2023 hiring effort, the agency saw wait times declined by 11 percent.

I'm Zimone Perez.

And more green energy jobs are coming to a few Indianapolis neighborhoods.

This is welcome news as Indiana ranks 12th nationally for the total number of jobs in this growing industry.

The Green Jobs Workforce Initiative will prepare residents Eastside, Southeast and Martindale Brightwood neighborhoods for in demand living wage careers in the growing green economy.

It's the result of a partnership between nonprofits including the John Bonner Neighborhood Centers, the Edna Martin Christian Center and Southeast Community Services.

Executive Director Peggy Frame says the program will bring equitable opportunities and long-term career pathways.

"This neighborhood has so much unutilized land and lots of formal industrial and commercial sites so it would be really great if the neighbors who live in the neighborhood could get training to help make some of those places better."

The initiative's jobs will offer a living wage within a fast-growing sector, Frame explains, and the project is a way to quote "directly contribute to that resilience in our neighborhood."

She hopes to have the first cohort begin training next month.

Over the next three years training will occur on a regular schedule.

I'm Terry Dee reporting.

Clean energy and clean vehicle jobs in Indiana set a record in 2023, going to almost 90,000 jobs.

This is public news service.

Louisiana community health centers are joining others across the nation in a fight for more federal funding.

Funding for many state health centers expires alongside the current federal budget at the end of the month.

This would limit access to medical care, particularly for those who already fall through the cracks of the system.

Michael Griffin with DePaul Community Health Center says while they're seeking funds to grow existing programs, they can also be used to changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

As people transition from some programs to others, that becomes a little of a threat because you have to work with those individuals and meet them where they are.

Griffin hopes the new funding can sustain Centers' workforce development programs for medical training and behavioral health services.

Data show the state's 41 federally qualified community health centers provide health care for more than 503,000 people.

I'm Edwin J. Vieira.

September is World Alzheimer's Month and advocates are working to bring more awareness to the disease through practical tools that help encourage important conversations especially for families.

The Alzheimer's Association reports more than 250,000 Illinois residents aged 65 and older are living with the disease.

Lisa Paul is a medical social worker who created a new card game called the Dementia Deck to help families talk through tough topics like advance directives, hospice and palliative care.

Paul says it's important for families to be proactive in having these conversations so caregivers are better equipped to honor patient wishes.

There are also questions in there that really just get to know what brings that person joy, what a good day looks like for them because we want that to be part of the conversation as well.

The dementia deck is the third in the death deck series which promotes end-of-life planning.

It will be released on the death deck website on September 21st for World Alzheimer's Day.

I'm Judith Ruiz Branch reporting.

Finally to New England where oyster farmers on Casco Bay are leading the trend of marine electrification.

They say replacing the aquaculture industry's gas and diesel powered outboards with electric versions could help better protect the Gulf of Maine, one of the fastest warming bodies of water on the planet.

Willie Leathers with Maine Ocean Farms, says it's also a great testing ground for how the technology fares in cold and salty conditions.

"Reducing noise and reducing on-site emissions is a goal of not only improving the workplace but also improving our potential impact on the environment around us."

Leather's 28-foot aluminum vessel is one of the first commercial workboats in the U.S. to run on electric outboards.

Supporters say their increased use could help revitalize coastal communities and generate excitement around Maine's iconic fishing industry.

The story is based on original reporting from Julia Tilton for the Daily Yonder.

I'm Katherine Carley.

Grants from the Island Institute, Maine Technology Institute and federal government have helped put some of the first electric boats into operation.

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

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