News from around the nation.

Indiana carries out its first lethal injection execution in 2026, high utility bills, Big Oil profits helped drive midterm voter turnout, Iowa farmers' finances are wobbling under tariffs, and diesel prices, a Washington tort report slammed for missing child abuse focus.

Transcript

The Public News Service Thursday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

The state of Indiana carried out its first execution of the year early Thursday morning.

The AP notes Jeff Weishart killed two children aged eight and five by setting fire to his girlfriend's house in Evansville.

He died at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City.

The lethal injection started just after midnight.

He was pronounced dead at 12:45 a.m.

Florida and Alabama also set to carry out executions today, which would mark the second time this year that three people in the U.S. would be put to death on the same day.

Meantime, environmental groups say Democrats were in control of the House and Senate in Tuesday's midterm elections in part by holding Republicans accountable for spiking energy prices and the rejection of renewable power sources.

Electricity prices are up 18 percent nationwide since President Donald Trump returned to the White House, costing the average American household an estimated $2,000 so far.

Lori Lotus, president of the political advocacy organization Climate Power, says Republicans doubled down on oil and natural gas resources to benefit billionaires over working people paying their bills.

Voters see clean energy as part of the answer to higher cost, and Democrats made that case and won.

In Texas, Senator-elect James Tallarico vowed to hold big tech accountable for polluting data centers.

I'm Katherine Carley.

And diesel fuel costs, low commodity prices, and the higher cost of fertilizer have combined with the Trump administration's tariffs to create a perfect storm for Iowa farmers struggling to make a profit.

Iowans are paying a little more than $6 a gallon for diesel.

A farm combine used to harvest crops can burn as much as two gallons per acre, which can add up quickly for a farmer harvesting hundreds of acres or more.

Rich Noonan farms 700 acres of row crops in Zwingle, Iowa, with his wife Joyce, and says tariffs on exports are also hurting farmers' ability to sell their products overseas.

Just making every other country mad at us.

What's it do?

It ruins our markets for every product we sell.

This story was produced with original reporting by Jonah Balekas for the Iowa Independent.

I'm Mark Moran for Iowa News Service.

Next, the Washington committee investigating the surge of lawsuits by people harmed by the state, including children abused in foster care, has released its findings.

Attorney Alexander Dietz represents survivors of childhood and sexual abuse and was part of the committee.

He says harm prevention should be the top priority.

We need to be analyzing why kids are getting hurt.

We need to make sure that everything we are doing to address the rise in cases doesn't try and protect agency budgets on the backs of survivors.

Some members say the tort committee focused too much on reducing settlement costs instead of reducing harm to children.

This is Public News Service.

Unlike the lower 48 where small power generators are interconnected, Alaska's microgrids often involve a standalone source of electricity.

Nearly 190 rural communities generate standalone power for about 80,000 residents of rural Alaska, mostly through small diesel generators.

But some communities are trying to reduce their reliance on diesel.

The tiny northwest Arctic village of Kotzebue now runs on 20% wind energy, according to Renewable Energy Alaska Project Executive Director Katie Lister.

That 20% for Kotzebue represents around 300,000 gallons of diesel annually that is displaced.

For the community, that's significant.

At $6 a gallon, that's $1.8 million that didn't have to get spent on importing diesel.

Diesel prices, already volatile in Alaska because of unpredictable weather and challenging geography, are especially difficult now amid America's conflict in Iran.

I'm Mark Moran.

And environmental groups are pointing to the rising energy cost as one reason behind Tuesday's political shakeup in Texas, where Democrats scored major victories in the longtime GOP stronghold.

Clean energy supporters criticized Trump administration's efforts to keep aging coal plants running while restricting renewable energy development.

David Kiva, president of EDF Action, says voters are sending a message about the cost of keeping the lights on.

President Trump and his friends have built a pretty powerful messaging machine.

But when they tell people that things are great and they look at their bills and they understand that they are not, they lose credibility on any number of different issues.

The administration maintains that keeping coal and natural gas plants operating is necessary to ensure reliable power and keep prices down.

It argues that retiring those plants too quickly, particularly as electricity demand grows, could increase the risk of power shortages and put additional pressure on household utility bills.

Crystal Blair reporting.

Finally, Democrats are poised for a major shift in power in Pennsylvania following the midterm election.

Governor Josh Shapiro won a second term with 60 percent of the vote, defeating Republican Stacey Garrity.

Democrats also flipped four of Pennsylvania's U.S.

House seats, helping the party secure control of the chamber.

Matthew Lewandowski of the University of Pennsylvania says if the projections hold up, Democrats would net over 255 seats in Washington, D.C.

I think this is much more a repudiation of Trump and the policies that have been enacted in the second Trump administration than is an embrace of Democrats.

You know, we see factors like the cost of gas, food, just the cost of prices generally.

Danielle Smith reporting.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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