Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Trump tells world leaders their countries are 'going to hell' in combative UN speech; One year after Helene, NC program teaches students resilience; Report: AR utility companies not doing enough to fight air pollution; NYS farmers face impacts, benefits from final MAHA report.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, September the 24th, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

President Donald Trump argued for lower levels of global migration and urged to turn away from climate change policies Tuesday in a combative, wine-raging speech at the UN General Assembly.

That's for Reuters.

They report the 56-minute speech was a rebuke to the world body and a return to form for Trump, who routinely bashed the UN during his first term as president.

Reuters notes Trump rejected moves by allies to endorse a Palestinian state and urged European nations to adopt the same set of economic measures he's proposing against Russia to force an end to the war in Ukraine.

Meantime, as the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Helene's devastating landfall approaches, a program in Western North Carolina schools is helping students cope with the tragedy.

The Ready, Set, Resilience program was developed by Duke University, North Carolina State University and public school teachers in the wake of past hurricanes that hit eastern North Carolina.

While it's designed for middle schoolers, the program can be modified to help students of all ages.

One of the leaders of the program is Liz DiMatteo with Duke Marine Labs Community Science Initiative.

She says the core idea of the program is to learn about resilience from nature and translate it in ways that support kids in their communities.

It's rooted in nature-based fables where there's been an ecological disturbance and the character, which is usually a plant or an animal, uses the roots of personal resilience to actually respond and either bounce back or bounce forward.

In the wake of Haleen, the program is being used by 44 teachers across five counties in the state.

Haleen swept through western North Carolina on September 27, 2024 and caused more than 100 deaths.

I'm Eric Tegethoff reporting.

And utility companies across Arkansas are not living up to their commitments to transition to clean energy.

That's according to the annual Dirty Truth report from the Sierra Club.

Of the three largest utility providers in the state, Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corps and Swebco, both received failing grades, and Energy Arkansas got a grade of C in the report.

Emory Hopkins with the Arkansas Sierra Club says residents are paying higher energy costs without receiving cleaner energy.

Our citizens need to be holding their utilities accountable and our utilities need to make better choices and plan better for a future with more demand.

If they continue to make these choices, we can expect bills in Arkansas to go up even further.

Hopkins adds one reason SWEPCO and AECC received Fs is because they co-own the Flint Creek coal plant and are not making plans to close the facility.

I'm Freda Ross reporting.

This is Public News Service.

Next to New York, where farmers are closely examining policies outlined in the final "Make America Healthy Again" report.

Its many recommendations include increasing approvals for chemicals used on farms rather than addressing some of their harms.

This comes as the next generation of pesticides being used on farms are increasingly made made of so-called forever chemicals known as PFAS.

Lisa Held with Civil Eats says this is surprising because they're a strong concern of the Maha movement.

They're gonna do a public campaign to ensure the public has awareness and confidence in EPA's pesticide robust review procedures.

That sort of sounds like convincing the American public pesticides are safe and that EPA's process is good enough.

The Environmental Protection Agency has already approved four new pesticides that are PFAS chemicals.

While states can exercise some control over whether to make these illegal, not all will do so.

Other agricultural recommendations in the report include streamlining organic certification processes, cutting regulatory burdens for small farms and developing new tools for soil health practices.

I'm Edwin J. Viera.

This story with original reporting by Lisa Held with Civil Eats.

And Governor Mike Braun recently announced the Power Up Indiana initiative to encourage employers to promote internally to boost the state's workforce.

A 2023 IU Business Research Study found a projected increase of 10 percent in Indiana's advanced manufacturing sector by 2026, with noticeable growth in transportation equipment, chemicals, and electronic products.

Robert Meared is the CEO of SlateUp, an Indiana-based career resource.

Manufacturing employers may not always prioritize technical skills, he explains, and other attributes are equally important in the hiring process.

What they're actually looking for is soft skills, a good attitude, are reliable if you show up on time, if you have good communication ability.

So if a manufacturer sees these traits, these behaviors, these attributes in you, they're going to be willing to invest in you and then give you an opportunity to, again, learn a skill and grow over time.

I'm Terry Dee reporting.

Finally, policymakers and community leaders in Arizona are calling on the Congress to restore alternative energy tax incentives that were stripped in the federal budget reconciliation bill.

Solar advocates want federal lawmakers to allow state residents to take advantage of the green power source.

State Representative Aaron Marquez says stripping incentives for solar power threatens the security and economic success of Arizona families.

The Pentagon calls it a threat multiplier because rising heat and scarce resources drive conflict and instability around the world. and here at home Arizonans have the right to clean air, safe water and protection from extreme weather.

Marquez is part of a group called elected officials to protect America which advocates for environmental protections.

I'm Mark Moran.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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