Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Trump pushes justice department to prosecute his political opponents; Report: MMR vaccine rates drop among PA kindergarteners; US, Idaho health safety groups oppose 'Cancer Gag Act; MN regulators ready for big decision on natural gas connections.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, September the 22nd, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

President Donald Trump has called on the country's top law enforcement official, Attorney General Pam Bondi, to more aggressively investigate his political adversaries.

That from the BBC.

The report in the social media post addressed directly to Bondi.

He said, "We can't delay any longer.

It's killing our reputation and credibility."

Trump expressed frustration that nothing is being done before calling on Bondi to investigate former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, who oversaw his first impeachment trial.

The BBC notes that shortly after, he posted again to praise Bondi, who he said was doing a great job.

Meantime, a new analysis finds Pennsylvania's childhood vaccination rates are slipping.

For the second year in a row, kindergarten immunization fell below the 95 percent target the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Becky Lutwit with Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children says state data show a steady decline over the past seven years, even before Covid 19.

The report highlights a decline in vaccinations for measles, mumps and rubella, otherwise known as MMR vaccines.

In the most recent school year available, we saw that there were almost 8000 kindergartners who weren't up to date on their MMR vaccine that has doubled since the 2017 2018 school year.

The report notes that falling MMR vaccination rates nationwide has left some communities vulnerable to measles outbreaks.

Lutwik adds other recommended vaccinations are also trending downward.

Nationally, 93 percent of kindergartners are covered and from 2023 to 2024, only 11 states reached the 95 percent benchmark.

Danielle Smith reporting.

And health and safety advocates are opposing parts of the Trump administration's Make America Healthy Again plan that would shield pesticide manufacturers from most liability lawsuits.

Republicans in Congress are sponsoring legislation that would roll back consumer protections against PFAS, otherwise known as forever chemicals, that may cause cancer.

Rebecca Wolf with the group Food and Water Watch refers to the Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act as the Cancer Gag Act, adding it's a gift to industrial agriculture.

What we're seeing is a concerted effort or a real campaign from Bayer pushing to shield pesticide manufacturers from health-related lawsuits, as well as hamper the EPA's ability to better regulate these toxic chemicals.

A similar measure failed to pass in the Idaho Senate in 2024.

It would have provided legal protection to pesticide manufacturers from the state's failure to warn liability law.

Proponents of the legislation argued it would have provided relief from lawsuits or overburden to manufacturing companies.

Mark Richardson reporting.

This is Public News Service.

Regulators in Minnesota are weighing feedback on a potential policy change tied to natural gas infrastructure.

The state could phase out gas line extension allowances, where current repairs cover the cost of connecting new development to these systems.

The Public Utilities Commission just ramped up a public comment period as it considers the future of this decade's old policy.

When new housing or a commercial building goes up, service pipelines are needed.

New properties often aren't charged for those connections, with the cost spread out among existing customers.

Clean Heat Minnesota's Natalie Cook says with non-gas options like heat pumps now part of the mix, the allowances are outdated.

So new customers could still get gas service.

They will need to just pay for it directly to connect to the gas system.

And we think that's fair.

And if natural gas expansion slows, the coalition warns future rate increases to fund new connections will disproportionately impact renters and low income households.

Industry groups opposed to eliminating them say doing so would create difficulties for new customers.

I'm Mike Moen.

And environmental groups are calling for greater regulation of tiny plastic pellets.

They're accumulating in New England's waterways and elsewhere.

The pellets, which are melted down and shaped into water bottles, bags and other items, are often spilled during manufacturing or transport.

Lisa Frank with the advocacy organization Environment America says eventually these lentil-sized plastics find their way to the oceans, where they threaten both wildlife and public health.

They look just like fish eggs, which for lots of critters is a nutritious and delicious snack, but instead they wind up getting a belly full of plastic.

Research shows plastic pollution also fuels climate change.

Darker pellets absorb more sunlight and when mixed with snow and ice, they can lead to quicker snow melt.

I'm Catherine Carley.

Finally, a group of clean water advocates in Iowa has filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the Environmental Protection agency's decision to back down on changes designed to ensure water safety in the state.

The Biden administration proposed a rule that would have imposed phosphorus emission limits on 126 meat industry plants across the U.S., including in Iowa.

Phosphorus is the number one polluter of the nation's waterways.

Now, the Trump administration has rescinded the proposed rules.

Food and Water Watch staff attorney Danny Replogle argues that the EPA is more concerned about profits than safe drinking water for Iowans.

It was very clear from the record before EPA that this rule made sense, that there are slaughterhouses across the country that are already implementing the technologies that are going to achieve better water quality and that the entire industry should be held to that standard.

The lawsuit was filed in the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

I'm Mark Moran.

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

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