skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Saturday, July 5, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Congress passes 'One Big Beautiful Bill'; rural NH residents could lose out on healthcare options due to new budget; national pride is at an all-time low according to a new Gallup Poll; an AL fire chief discusses firework safety on the Fourth of July; an IL poli-sci professor says white English speakers are commonly seen as 'American'; a KS electric vehicle manufacturer worries about impacts of ending tax credits; and a WV coal mining lawsuit moves ahead.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

House Republicans send the budget megabill to the president as critics warn of deep cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and public health. Concerns rise over declining international student enrollment and North Carolina may face economic implications from gerrymandering.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Farmers may abandon successful conservation programs if federal financial chaos continues, a rural electric cooperative in Southwest Colorado is going independent to shrink customer costs, and LGBTQ+ teens say an online shoulder helps more than community support.

Conservation Highlighted During Today's World Water Day

play audio
Play

Wednesday, March 22, 2017   

ST. PAUL, Minn. – This is World Water Day, and Minnesotans are being asked to step up conservation to help people in this country and all over the world. According to the U-N, more than 663 million people live without a safe water supply close to home.

Although it's not at crisis level in most of the U.S., safe water has been brought to the forefront recently because of contamination in Flint, Michigan.

Dan Haseltine is the lead singer of the band Jars of Clay, which was formed in the 1990s by four students at Greenville College. He says during a trip to Africa to visit areas devastated by the AIDS crisis, the band was shocked to see people digging for water in dry riverbeds.

"And it didn't take long to kind of put some of the pieces together that if people are wrestling with this disease that destroys the immune system, and then they're having to drink water that is filled with bacteria and disease, it was the water ultimately that was killing people," he said.

After the trip to Africa, Haseltine helped start Blood:Water, which partners with African grassroots organizations to combat HIV/AIDS and the water crises. The group encourages people to have some fun with conservation efforts by taking a water challenge, which could mean drinking only water for a number of days or going without it for an entire day.

Daniella Bostrom Couffe, the communications manager of U.N. Water says the theme for World Water Day this year centers around ways to conserve it.

"In your home, you can do just simple things as turning off the tap when you brush your teeth, or you can stop putting oil or leftovers in the plug hole so that the wastewater becomes easier to treat and then to reuse," she said.

Haseltine believes getting involved in the effort to bring clean water to those in need may be just what we need. He calls it a good respite from the political strife that's been happening in America.

"We just need a breath," he added. "We need somebody to tell us a better story that we can connect with, something that just means a little bit more."


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A U.S. citizen is legally defined as a person born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, yet experts say human psychology and identity politics result in ingrained biases over who truly belongs. (Adobe Stock)

play sound

With Donald Trump in the White House, Illinois and the nation face new challenges about who "belongs" in the United States. Nationality has become a …


Social Issues

play sound

With the Independence Day holiday weekend here, North Dakotans might be out at parades, fireworks shows and barbecues. However, new polling indicates …

Environment

play sound

Environmental and wildlife conservation in Montana took hits during this year's state legislative session, including vetoes from the governor on …


Social Issues

play sound

New Minnesota laws take effect this week but consumer and environmental watchdogs are looking back on one from last year designed to bolster product r…

Beaver Dam analogs, designed to mimic natural beaver dams, can help restore and improve stream ecosystems. (Emily Luberto/National Park Service)

play sound

Sometimes called the original "ecosystem engineers," beavers and the techniques they use are guiding conservationists in New Mexico to protect scarce …

play sound

Despite debate in Washington over ending incentives to help Alaska's smallest places move away from traditional oil and gas-based power generation in …

Social Issues

play sound

More than 1,100 caregivers at Portland's Providence St. Vincent Medical Center have voted to unionize, joining the Service Employees International …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021