Charlotte crime debate, Sullivan spending scrutiny and Roadless Rule repeal lead this hour

Three distinct US stories dominated coverage this hour before reporting settled. In Charlotte, debate continued over public safety and transit security after high-profile violent incidents, with city leaders weighing whether to pursue up to $150 million in federal public-safety funding from a proposed Department of Justice programme, while some council members raised concerns about federal oversight and surveillance. In Alaska, scrutiny grew over campaign spending in the closely watched Senate race involving Senator Dan Sullivan. Separately, US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the Forest Service had filed a proposed rule to rescind the 2001 national Roadless Area Conservation Rule, arguing that the 25-year-old restriction had prevented land managers from carrying out wildfire-prevention work.

The Roadless Rule change would affect more than 44 million of the 193-million-acre National Forest System, removing the blanket federal designation and handing decisions on road-building and active management to local forest managers, though it does not itself mandate logging or road construction. Officials cited Forest Service data showing over 40% of inventoried roadless areas, mostly in the West, carry high wildfire hazard potential, with only 5% treated for hazardous fuels since 2014; the agency will now take public comment alongside a draft environmental impact statement. Republican governors including Montana's Greg Gianforte and Utah's Spencer Cox welcomed the move, while the Charlotte safety debate and Alaska campaign-finance scrutiny remained separately unresolved, each reflecting wider arguments over federal versus local authority.